Josh Anderson and the Return of the Dark Lord
by Doctor Shmosby
Summary: Josh's 4th year. A lot of things are changing in Potter's life, but there's so much changing in Josh's life as well. Just as much anger between the two, a Moody professor, a dangerous Tournament, and more mystery.
1. Infiltrating the Law

Chapter 1: Infiltrating the Law

_The front door burst open, and a man in a suit charged in. "Where the bloody hell are you?!" he growled and then walking into the closest room and found a woman and her child, the people he was looking for. _

_"Why are you here?" the woman asked, as she was standing in the corner of the living room of her own home, holding her 8 year old son close to her. A man was there, and he was pointing a gun at the woman and the boy who was scared and crying in her arms. "Why did you come back?"_

_"Because you are freaks of nature, demons," the man said, taking off the safety of the gun. "And you have to be put down!" Bang!_

Josh woke up with a start and sat up from his bed. He was covered in sweat and his head was throbbing in pain for some unknown reason. He wiped his face to clean the sweat, wondering what the heck he was dreaming. Josh sighed as he moved his feet off of his bed and to the floor, then leaned his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees.

That dream felt like it wasn't a dream at all, but more like it happened in real life. But the question was, who did it happen to?

Josh took his face out of his hands stared around his dark bedroom as though expecting to see something unusual there. As it happened, there was an extraordinary number of unusual things in this room. A large wooden trunk stood open at the foot of his beds, revealing cauldrons, black robes, notes, and assorted spell books.

He stood out of bed, passing his desk that was littered with rolls of parchment, maps of a certain building, and a cage where his horned owl, Shadow, was perched and looking out the open window. Josh glanced through the window and saw the unfamiliar streets of London, because this was Josh's new home, which was only a couple of blocks away from the Ministry of Magic. His old home was empty because his mother was arrested for helping a fugitive and Josh was given a new home with his Grandfather and his grandfather's free House-Elf, Tibby.

Josh exited his room and into his own private bathroom, turning on the light and looked into the mirror. A sweaty average boy of fourteen, only wearing his pajama bottoms, looked back at him, his grey eyes puzzled under his short black bed-hair. He was still getting used this look as his mother had put glamour charms on him, where his hair used to be brown, and his eyes were brown too.

His mother had lied to him all his life, saying that his father was a muggle, though in truth that he yet to believe, was that his father was Sirius Black, the fugitive she helped, and was arrested for.

Josh sighed, walked back into his room, and sat down at his desk were his notes and a map sat right in front of him. He picked up and looked at the map he had 'received' from his grandfather. It was a map of the eighth level of the Ministry of Magic, where it held many departments, but there was one department in particular he was interested in.

The Ministry of Magic Public Information Services. This was where he was going to found out who his real father was. He tried getting the information in public with an employee there but he was too young to be allowed the information, so there was only one way to get what he needed to know, and that was to sneak in and get the information himself.

Josh placed down the map, noticing an unopen letter next to it. It was a letter he had sent to Daphne trying to reconcile his friendship with her, but the letter was sent back with no reply or anything. He had messed up a couple of friendships his last year at Hogwarts. He practically put his other friendships with the Gryffindors before the Slytherins besides giving them the equal amount of friendship and time.

He did reconcile his friendship with Blaise by writing him, visiting his home, and helping him produce his patronus which was a jaguar. And they even hung out at Diagon Alley a few times, messing around, and walking through Knockturn Alley, browsing the shops with curiosity.

Josh leaned his head on his arms, and stared out the window, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and then...

Crack! And Josh's eyes snapped opened at the loud crack, automatically placing his school papers over his notes and maps.

"Good Morning, young Mr. Anderson!" came the sound of Tibby's voice.

"Morning," Josh groaned as he sat up and stretched out his body. He turned to see Tibby in his bright yellow pajamas, holding a trey full of breakfast.

"I have your breakfast here," Tibby said, placing the trey onto Josh's desk, "And the Daily Prophet, if you want to read it, and your Grandfather wishes you a good morning and told me to tell you not to go down Knockturn Alley anymore. It's a dangerous place, you know," Tibby spoke, picking up Josh's dirty laundry while Josh ate his bacon.

"It's not that dangerous," Josh murmured with a smirk, opening the Daily Prophet, Tibby leaving with Josh's dirty laundry through the door.

After breakfast, Josh got dressed and ready. He put on a new holster he bought on his right wrist and stuck his wand inside then put on a black longsleeved shirt. He also wore black pants and black converse. He the opened the drawer on his desk that held his grandfather's deluminator, and pocketed it. He also pocketed a Revealer, just in case the words were invisible.

Josh then pulled out a box with three W's on it. It was a gift from the Weasley Twins called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Items that the Weasley twins invented with their own two hands and magic. They sent Josh a sample package of a few items, for all the pranking he did a while back with him, but didn't do it anymore, now. But don't get him wrong, he would laugh at a good prank, if it was funny enough.

Josh opened the box. Inside held a bunch of prank candies called skiving snackboxes and Weasley's Wild-fire Whiz-Bangs prototypes, or fireworks, otherwise known as distractions. He pocketed some pranked candy just in case he was got, and some Whiz-Bangs so he could advert the wizards and witches. Josh then left his room, and down the stairs.

"Tibby! I'm going to Diagon Alley with Blaise!" Josh shouted when he hit the front door.

"Okay, be home for Dinner!" Tibby shouted back, and then Josh left the house and onto the streets of London, and walked near the street.

"What took you so long?" spoke a voice behind Josh.

Josh turned around to see Blaise Zabini leaning on a tree. He was taller, taler than Josh, and wore a dark suit. He looked too fancy for a fourteen year old.

"Could you be any more inconspicuous?" Josh asked his best Slytherin friend.

"What?!" Blaise said, looking over himself. "They're dark clothes."

"Yeah, but it's a suit," Josh said.

"Well, at least I'll be the one who'll blend in," Blaise said, leaning off the tree. "Instead of looking like some obvious secret spy."

"Yeah, yeah," Josh spoke, waving Blaise off. "Come on, let's do this." Blaise nodded and the two friends began walking the streets of London, and arrived as the Leaky Cauldron minutes later.

Blaise and Josh entered the pub, and saw that it was practically empty except with two wizards drunkingly singing in the corner. Tom was at the bar cleaning his glasses as usual.

"I don't see why we have to use this Fireplace instead of yours," Blaise said as the two teens walked over to the fireplace.

"If i use my grandpa's floo, then Tibby will hear we went to the Ministry of Magic and would have told on me," Josh said, grabbing some floo powder.

"I hate traveling by floo," Blaise spoke, grabbing his own handful of floo powder. "I wish I could apparate."

"Yeah, you and me both, bud," Josh replied, tossing in the powder, then said loud and clear, "Ministry of Magic!" and then disappeared through the green flames.

Josh exited the flames and into the Ministry, Blaise following seconds later.

They were standing at one end of a very long and splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that kept moving and changing like some enormous heavenly notice board. The walls on each side were panelled in shiny dark wood and had many more gilded fireplaces set into them. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left-hand fireplaces with a soft whoosh, the same ones Josh and Blaise emerged from. On the right-hand side, short queues of wizards were forming before each fireplace, waiting to depart.

Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool. Tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight up in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house-elf. The last three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard.

Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of their wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblins hat and each of the house-elf's ears, so that the tinkling hiss of falling water was added to the pops and cracks of the Apparators and the clatter of footsteps as hundreds of witches and wizards, most of whom were wearing glum, early-morning looks, strode towards a set of golden gates at the far end of the hall.

"Follow me," Josh said, Blaise nodded, and the two joined the throng, wending their way between the Ministry workers, some of whom were carrying tottering piles of parchment, others battered briefcases; still others were reading the Daily Prophet while they walked.

Blaise looked around, surprised that the adults weren't paying any attention to them, especially to Josh who wasn't wearing any kind of robes or a suit, just regular clothes.

"Do you know where you're going?" Blaise asked, following Josh.

"Of course I do," Josh answered, looking back at Blaise. "I been through the atrium before and too the lifts, but I haven't been to where we're going."

Blaise nodded and continued to follow Josh, passing the great fountain where Josh noticed sickles, knuts, and galleons in the water and a sign that said:

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF MAGICAL BRETHREN WILL BE GIVEN TO ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL FOR MAGICAL MALADIES AND INJURIES.

Josh and Blaise then stopped teen feet away from the golden gates. Seated at a desk to the left, beneath a sign saying Security, a wizard in peacock blue robes sat there, reading the Daily Prophet.

"So, how are we going to get past that guy?" Blaise asked.

"Did you even read my notes on this?" Josh asked, reaching into his pocket

"I skimmed them," Blaise replied, watching the security guard. Josh sighed and pulled out a whiz bang. "What are you going to do with that?"

"I'm going to use it as a distraction," Josh answered, walking away towards the fountain. Blaise watched as Josh lit the whiz bang prototype and then dropped out of sight, behind a small newspaper stand. Josh then walked back to Blaise smirking, and a second later...Bang! The fireworks set off in blue and white sparks, blowing up the news stand in the process.

Josh and Blaise watched as people were confused and running away in shock, screaming as if someone was attacking. Josh looked over to the golden gates to see that the security guard had run off to investigate the fireworks.

"Come on," Josh said, grabbing Blaise and leading him through the golden gates.

Jostled slightly by the crowd, Josh and Blaise slipped through the gates into the smaller hall beyond, where at least twenty lifts stood behind wrought golden grilles. The two joined the crowd around one of the lifts.

"What level are we going to?' Blaise whispered to Josh, both still unnoticed by the other people who were busy trying to get around.

"It's a small department on level 2," Josh answered.

With a great jangling and clattering a lift descended in front of them; the golden grille slid back, and Josh and Blaise stepped into the lift with the rest of the crowd and the two found themselves jammed against the back wall, hidden behind all the witches and wizards who probably didn't know they were there.

The grilles slid shut with a crash and the lift ascended slowly, chains rattling, while the same cool female voice they had heard in the telephone box rang out again.

"Level Seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office."

The lift doors opened. Josh and Blaise glimpsed at an untidy-looking corridor, with various posters of Quidditch teams tacked lopsidedly on the walls. One of the wizards in the lift, who was carrying an armful of broomsticks, extricated himself with difficulty and disappeared down the corridor.

The doors closed, the lift juddered upwards again and the woman's voice announced:

"Level Six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office and Apparation Test Center."

Once again the lift doors opened and four or five witches and wizards got out; at the same time, several paper aeroplanes swooped into the lift. Josh and Blaise stared up at them as they flapped idly around above their heads; they were a pale violet colour and they could see Ministry of Magic stamped along the edge of their wings. Blaise and Josh looked at one another and shrugged.

As they clattered upwards again the memos flapped around the lamp swaying from the lift's ceiling.

"Level Five, Department of International Magical Co-operation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats."

When the doors opened, two of the memos zoomed out with a few more of the witches and wizards, but several more memos zoomed in, so that the light from the lamp flickered and flashed overhead as they darted around it.

"Level Four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office and Pest Advisory Bureau."

The doors opened and only a little flock of memos flew out. The doors clanged shut yet again.

"Level Three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters and Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee."

Everybody left the lift on this floor except Josh and Blaise. The remaining memos continued to soar around the lamp as the lift juddered upwards again, then the doors opened and the voice made its announcement.

"Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."

"This is us," Josh spoke, and the two exited out of the lift into a corridor lined with doors. "We have to get to the Public Informtaion Services, and find a way to get into the back where the records are kepts."

The two teens began walking down the corridor but stopped at a window which sunlight was streaming through. "How the?" Blaise breathed out.

"How is that possible?" Josh asked, moving closer to the window seeing the sky and buildings. "I thought we were underground?"

"We are underground," said a quiet voice from behind Josh and Blaise. The two boys turned around and saw another boy, as tall as Josh, blonde hair, green eyes, skinny, with a slight pale complexion. He wore a blue sweater and jeans. "Those windows are enchanted. Magical Maintence usually decides what weather we'll get every day. I heard that they had two months of hurricanes one time they were trying to get a pay rise."

"Uh, whoare you?" Josh asked as him and Blaise stared at the other boy.

"Oh, um, William Nielsen," the boy answered shyly.

"Oh, good, well, you can bugger off now, we have business to tend to," Blaise replied, waving him away with his hand. William nodded, bowing his head and glancing at the two boys.

"Blaise," Josh warned his friend who rolled his eyes, then turned to William. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I couldn't be left alone at home, so my father brought me to work," William answered, raising his head.

"What's he do?" Blaise asked.

"He works for the Minister as an Ambassador," William answered. "But right now, he's here talking to the Head Auror so he can get some Aurors to help him with something."

"Yeah, that's great," Blaise said quickly, then turned to Josh. "Come on, Anderson, we got to go. I think I saw an Auror glance at us."

"Oh, right," Josh said, "Nice to meet you, William, but we have to get to the records room in the Public Informtaion Services place."

"I know where that is," William replied, as Blaise and Josh began to walk off. "It's through the Auror Offices."

"Wait," Blaise said, stopping Josh. "Through the Auror Offices? You didn't tell me that."

"Oh, uh, I guess i forgot to," Josh replied lamely, with a sheepish smile.

"How do you expect us to get past all them Aurors?" Blaise asked.

"Well, I didn't really know how, but I was going to wing it when we came to that part of the plan," Josh answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I can help," William said quietly.

"How wonderful," Blaise replied, ignoring William, and leaning against the wall. "I knew this plan wasn't going to be easy."

"Of course it wasn't going to be easy, Blasie," Josh said, leaning next to him. "We're in the Ministry of Magic. The place that runs the magical world of Britain."

"But how are we suppose to get past Aurors?" Blaise asked. "I mean, they're practically trained to see what's been missed to see or whatever. We're you going to throw another firework? Or what."

"I could turn out all the lights," Josh suggested. "But then we couldn't see. I could give them the pranked candy."

"How? We're not even suppose to be here!" Blaise hissed.

"I can help you," William said again, this time it was heard by Blaise and Josh.

"And how can you do that?" Blaise asked the shorter boy.

"Depends on what kind of candy he has," William said, nodding towards Josh.

"Well, I brought these..." he said, digging through his pocket and pulled out three pieces of candy, one red, one green, and one pink. "If I remember correctly, this red one makes your nose bleed, the green one makes you vomit a lot, and this pink one grows out your tongue. But i don't think we should use that one."

"Okay," William said, grabbing the green one. "Follow me, and try not to be seen." Blaise and Josh nodded and began to follow William.

They turned a corner, walked through a pair of heavy oak doors and emerged in a cluttered open area divided into cubicles, which was buzzing with talk and laughter. Memos were zooming in and out of cubicles like miniature rockets. A lopsided sign on the nearest cubicle read: Auror Headquarters.

They then stopped at the fist cubicle and found that it was empty, though the walls was littered with everything from pictures of wanted wizards and photographs of a family, to posters of their favourite Quidditch teams and articles from the Daily Prophet.

"This guy is pretty messy," Blaise commented, and the trio continued on, stopping at the next cubicle, where a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail was sitting with his boots up on his desk, dictating a report to his quill.

"Alright, Will, you're up," Blaise spoke. William nodded, but Josh stopped him.

"If we don't see each other again, well, thanks for doing this," He said. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem," William replied, "I was bored. It's the least I could do for whatever you guys are doing."

"We're going to see about Josh's real - "

"Well, thanks," Josh said again, interupting Blaise. "I guess we'll see you at Hogwarts, then?"

"Yeah, I'll be there," William asked, unwrapping the candy, that was half lime green, half green.

"Okay, when you don't see us," Josh started, "Eat the antidote which is the lime green part." William nodded and walked towards the scarlet robed man's open cubicle while eating the green part of the candy, and seconds later, William began to heave.

"Whoa there, son, are you alright?" the ponytailed Auror asked, dropping his feet to the floor, William heaved again and this time he vomitted all over the man who jumped up yelping, gaining the other Aurors' attention. But that wasn't what was horrible. What was horrible was that William continued to vomit, and the Aurors began to gather and ask questions.

"Is he alright?"

"What the bloody hell is going on?!"

"Oi! What is that horrible noise?!"

"What's wrong with him?!

When nearly every Auror in the office was there trying to figure out what was happening, Blaise and Josh began making their way through the offices, nearly running into an Auror who came out of no where. A minute later, Josh and Blaise exited through other oak doors into a hallway.

"This way," Josh said, leading Blaise right and down the corridor where the stopped at two more doors that were closed, but with a sign that said, Public Information Services.

"Is it closed?" Blaise asked as the two stared at the door. Josh tried the handle on one of the doors and found that it was locked.

"Weird, why are they closed?" Josh asked, lowering his right arm so that his wand could fall into his hand. He then raised his wand but Blaise pulled down his arm.

"What are you crazy!?" Blaise whispered, looking around and saw no one. "If you unlock the door magically, There are probably enchantments that will signal someone that there's a break in."

"No, there's not," Josh replied, looking at the door.

"And how do you know?"

Josh shrugged. "I just do," he said, raising his wand again, while Blaise got ready to run, just in case. Josh pointed his wand at the doorknobs, and said, "_Alohamora._"

Blaise closed his eyes strained his ears ready for the alarms to go off, but the only thing he heard was a click, and then the opening of a door.

"Blaise, are you coming?" Josh asked. Blaise opened his eyes to see Josh was half way through the door, and then nodded. "Well, come on," he said, leading his friend into an area that looked like a bank-like area, but it was totally empty.

"Where to?" Blaise asked as the door closed behind them. Josh looked around until he found the entrance to behind the counter area.

"This way," Josh said, and led Blaise through the counters, to the area that held desks and two offices, and a small hallway inbetween the two offices, leading to somewhere else. Josh then led Blaise through the hallways that had many doors, and stopped when he found the Witches and Wizards Records room. "Over here!" Josh said to Blaise who was looking in another room, then turned and followed Josh into the records room, where the two found that it was one of the biggest rooms they have ever seen filled with many and many filing cabinets, each with four drawers.

"Where do we begin?" Blaise asked, eyeing all the cabinets, Josh walking over to the first Cabinet with Aa written on it.

"They're in alphabetical order," he said, showing Blaise by pointing to the Aa. "We should find my file in An," he said, starting to walk down an aisle.

"And why are we looking for your file again?" Blaise asked, following his friend. "Cause you never really told me why."

"I know," Josh said, walking past Au, Ab, Aba, Abe, and so on. "There are so many different kind of names," he murmured.

"Well, are you going to tell me why we're looking for your file?" Blaise asked.

"Not until I know I'm sure," Josh answered, passing Ade. "I think we're almost there."

Blaise looked at the last cabinet that had Ae. "Almost?" he said. "We still have a long way." Josh ignored him and the two continued down the long aisle, and a few minutes later, they reached An.

"So, here we are," Blaise said as the two looked at the cabinets.

"Not quite," Josh said, walking dow the aisle a little more, and then stopped at And. He kneeled down, opening the third cabinet, second from the floor, and began to sift through the files, not finding what he was looking for. "What the bloody hell..."

"What is it?" Blaise asked, walking over to his friend. "What's wrong?"

"My file," Josh said, looking through the files once more, then loooked up to Blaise. "It's not here!"

**A/n: Here's the first chapter of the fourth installment of Josh Anderson. Be patient, there will be more. And sorry if the Doc doesnt like his character's part. I can fix it. And I may have room for one new mythical beast character. Anyone interested? It has to be known though, in the HP universe. Well, hope you enjoyed. Review, if you want.**


	2. Memory

**A/N: Whoa, sorry, this was suppose to go up last night, but a little thing call Black Ops 2 got me a little distracted, so, here's Chapter 2! Hope You enjoy and please reveiw!**

Chapter 2: Memory

"What do you mean your file's not there!?" Blaise asked, looking over the files as Josh stood to his feet. Blaise stood up after closing the file cabinet. He looked over to Josh who was walking back to the front. "Josh, wait," he said, jogging up to his best friend. "Where is your file? Why isn't it there?"

"Because it's not there, it never was," Josh replied, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What do you mean it never was?" Blaise asked with a confused look. "Is your last name not Anderson?"

"Not legally," Josh said.

"I still don't understand," Blaise said. "If your last name isn't legally Anderson, then what is your legal last name?"

"Come on, follow me," Josh said, ignoring Blaise's question. Blaise sighed and followed Josh all the way back to the beginning of the aisle and then moved to the B aisle.

"The B aisle," Blaise said as they entered the aisle. "Why are we going down this aisle?"

"Just come on," Josh hissed, ignoring Blaise's question again, and the two walked farther down the Aisle, passing Be and Bea. Minutes later, the two Fourth years walked up to a Bla file cabinet.

"So, who's file is here?" Blaise asked, but he was ignored as Josh kneeled down to the bottom cabinet, opened it, and began to search through it. "Hey, those are the Blacks," Blaise spoke. "Who's file are you looking for now?"

"Mine," Josh answered, reading file name after file name with the last name Black.

"Yours?" Blaise said in confusion, and then realization appearing upon his face. "No!" he breathed out, standing up. "Are you telling me you are a Black? Like Siruis Black?"

Josh nodded as he came across the file Sirius Black, and then Regulus Black, and then... "Joshua M. Black," Josh breathed out, slowly pulling out the file. Josh opened it and read it, Blaise reading over his shoulder.

_Name: Joshua Malcom Black_  
_Blood Status: Pureblood_  
_Birthdate: September 15, 1979_  
_Current Age: 14_  
_Hair Color: Black_  
_Eye Color: Grey_  
_Current Heigth: 5'6_  
_Name of Mother: Sandra Emrys_  
_Name of Father: Sirius Black_

"No way," Blaise breathed out in shock, standing up straight. "You're father is the fugitive and murderer, Sirius Black?"

"He's not a murderer," Josh growled out, tired of hearing people saying that he was. Josh stared at the Name of his father. It was true, Sirius was his real father, which meant his mother had lied to him all his life about his father. "He's innocent."

"How do you know that?" Blaise asked, scratching his head.

"Because he told me so," Josh said nonchalantly, as he flipped through the file, only seeing what school he was going to, grades, classes he would excell at, careers he could do, ect., but then he stopped as he came across another certificate. Blaise saw it too.

"What is that?" Blaise asked, pointing to the Certificate. Josh picked it up and examined it.

"It's another Birth Certificate," Josh answered, but it was different, not for a human or wizard, but for a... "A phoenix Brith Certificate."

"What!?" Blaise said, grabbing the certificate from Josh's hand. "This can not be real."

"Why?" Josh asked.

"I don't know, it just seems unreal," Blaise spoke, reading the certificate. "But maybe it's because the birthdate of this Phoenix has even happened yet."

"What?" said a confused Josh. "What do you mean? When is the brithdate?"

"June 18, 1996," Blaise answered, handing the certificate to Josh who stood up and grabbed the certificate to make sure Blaise was right, which he was.

"But why would this certificate be in my file?" Josh asked, but it was too late for any answer as a door slammed shut. Blaise and Josh shot to the ground, straining their ears for any other kind of sound.

"Now what?" Blaise whispered as Josh threw his file back into the cabinet and quietly closed it.

"Let's just get out of here, quickly and quietly," Josh replied, slowly moving towards the entrance of the aisle, Blaise following behind him.

"Josh, I don't want to get caught," Blaise whispered from behind his best friend. "I don't want to go to Azkaban."

"You're not going to Azkaban," Josh spoke, reaching the entry of the aisle, hearing footsteps.

"But - "

"Shh!"

"Someone there?" spoke a manly voice, Josh hearing the stopping of footsteps. "Bloody not be any pixies in here again," the voice mumbled, continuing to walk. "I'll have that exterminator's head if he'd left as much as one pixie in here."

Josh and Blaise looked at one another, Blaise pointing towards the A aisle. Josh nodded, and slowly moved around to the corner, moved along some cabinets and to the edge of aisle A, and then peeked around the corner. There, standing in front of some cabinets, was an ordinary wizard dressed in blue robes, writing on a clipboard.

"Who is it?" Blaise whispered from behind Josh who brought a finger up to his lips. Blaise nodded, while Josh reached into his pocket pulling out his Grandfather's deluminator and his wand. He pointed at the deluminator, than at the lights, and then to the door, at Blaise who nodded and pulled out his wand.

The Ministry worker began whistling a jaunty tune, while Josh lifted the deluminator as high as he could and then clicked it, turning out most of the lights in the area.

"Whoa!" the Ministry worker said, dropping his clipboard the clacked on the stone floor.

"Come on!" Josh hissed, whipping his wand slightly. "_Lumos!" _And his wand lit up at the end. Blaise followed his lead, and the two teens rushed as quick as they could towards the exit. Minutes later, the two teens were back at the door of the Auror offices.

"Now what?" Blaise asked, as they glanced inside the offices. "Just walk through?"

"Yeah, we can just say that we're lost or some - ARG!" Josh screamed out loudly as pain seared in his head, something breaking in his mind. Josh grabbed his head and screamed some more, falling to his knees, and gaining nearly every Auror's attention. He opened his eyes to see Blaise holding onto his shoulders and saying something, but he couldn't hear anything. He also saw as the other Aurors gathering around, and began to talk to Blaise but he still couldn't hear anything as the pain was too much to bear.

Josh closed his eyes, his screaming turned to groaning, as he felt like being picked up and taken somewhere. He opened his eyes and saw that he was being carried. He looked over at his carrier and saw that it was a red haired man. Josh closed his eyes once more, fading into the darkness.

* * *

_"Joshua!" Sandra shouted from the kitchen. "Lunch is ready!"_

_A boy of eight ran down the steps of the second floor of his home. He had dark brown hair, brown eyes, wore a blue shirt, black shorts, and was barefooted. He entered the kitchen to find his mother placing a plate with chips and a sandwhich at his usual spot at the table. _

_Josh sat down and began to eat his lunch, when the front door opened and then closed. Josh glanced up, a sinking feeling in his stomach, knowing who it was. A few seconds later, a tall man in a black suit, brown hair and eyes, handsome face, walked into the __kitchen, looking worn. _

_"I can't believe this!" He growled, tossing his suitcase on the table, causing Josh to jump a little. _

_"What happened, John?" Sandra asked, turning to her husband. "Why are you home so early?"_

_"Those idiots at he office, fired me!" John answered, loosening his tie, and walking towards the fridge. "Who are they to think they can just fire an Anderson!" he growled, slamming the door of the fridge, scaring Josh again._

_"Hun, calm down," Sandra spoke quietly, grabbing his hand. "You're scaring Joshua."_

_"Don't tell me to calm down," John said, wrenching his hand away from his wife. John then looked over to Josh who wasn't eating anymore but just looking at his food. "What's the matter son, food not good enough for you?" _

_"John," Sandra warned._

_"Shut it," John growled, his wife backing away. Josh slowly looking up at the older man, as something ignited inside of Josh. John went back to Josh. "Eat that boy. I didn't pay good money for it to go to waste like that."_

_"John, can I talk to you for a minute in private," Sandra said, moving towards the sitting room._

_"Eat," John growled at Josh and then followed his wife, who then began to argue. _

_Josh picked up a chip and took a bite as he tried not to listen to his parents argue. "You need to stop talking to him like that," Sandra said, heatedly. _

_"I'll talk to him however I like," John replied. "As long as he lives under my roof, he is to do what I say! Even if he's not my son."_

_"Don't shout." Sandra pleaded, Josh trying to not to listen, but he couldn't help it._

_"Don't tell me what to do, woman."_

_"John, please. Just calm down."_

_"I said not to tell me what to do!" John hissed. Josh stood up and walked over to the doorway of the sitting room to see his mother and father talking in the middle of the room._

_"I'm sorry you were fired, but you can't just take your anger out on us," Sandra spoke. _

_"I'll do whatever I damn please," John hissed at Sandra who noticed Josh in the doorway. She began to walk away from John, but she was stopped when John grabbed her violently by the arm. _

_"Ow, John, you're hurting me," Sandra said, as the little flame that ignited inside of Josh began to grow. _

_"Shut the hell up," John growled, shaking her. "Now, I want you to take your son to your lousy father's home so we can have some alone time, alright?!"_

_"Leave her alone," Josh bravely spoke up, entering the sitting room. John slolwy turned his head to Josh, letting go of his wife. _

_"You, boy," John said, "Go get your stuff packed. You're going to your Grandfathers."_

_"No," Josh said, bravely glaring at the older man._

_"Do as I say, boy," John growled. _

_"No."_

_"That's it," John said, walking up towards Josh, raising his huge hand. "It's time to learn to respect your elders," the older man growled, bringing down his hand towards Josh. _

_"No!" Josh shouted, and right before John's hand landed on Josh, John was blasted back by an invisible force, away from Josh and into the far wall, sliding to the ground and leaving a crack in the law._

_"Joshua, no!" Sandra cried, bringing her hand up to her mouth._

_"What the hell?" John moaned as he stood back to his feet. "What the hell did you do?" he said, pointing his finger as Josh and then Sandra, and then ran out of the house. _

_After he left, Sandra ran over to Josh. "Joshua, are you okay?" she asked. _

_"Yes," Josh said with a nod. "Mum, what did I do?" _

_"Oh, just accidental magic," Sandra answered, a proud smile forming on her face. "Now come on, we have to pack and get to your grandfathers."_

_Half an hour later, __Sandra and Josh were in the sitting room with their suitcases, waiting on Malcom, Josh's grandfather, when __the front door burst open, and John charged in. "Where the bloody hell are you?!" he growled._

_ He then walking into the closest room where he found Sandra and her child, the people he happened to be looking for._

_"Why are you here?" Sandra asked, as she was standing in the corner of the living room of her own home, holding her 8 year old son close to her. She looked around for something, wishing she hadn't put it in the attic. John took a step forward and brought up his arm which was holding a gun, and he pointing a gun at Sandra and Josh who was scared and crying silently in her arms. "Why did you come back?"_

_"Because you are freaks of nature, demons," John said, taking off the safety of the gun. "And you have to be put down!" And the triggered was pulled. Bang!  
_

_Josh fell to the ground something falling on top of him, but he wasn't in pain. He looked behind him to see that his mother had fallen on him and that she was unconscious. He looked up towards John to see that he was gone, again. _

_Suddenly, Josh felt something warm flow onto his hand. He looked at it to see that blood was falling onto his hand, but it wasn't his. He crawled out from underneath his mother and turned to her. "Mum?" Josh said to his fallen mother. "Mum, are you okay?" But there wasn't a response._

_Josh walked to the couch grabbed a small cushion, walked back to his mother, and placed the cushion under her head. That's where Josh found where his mother was bleeding the most when he picked up her head, then placed it down, noticing his hands being covered in blood. _

_Josh stood up and backed up while staring at his bloody hands. He didn't stop until he hit the wall and slid to the ground, unable to take his eyes off his hands. _

_"Hello?" called a voice. "Joshua, Sandra? Where are ya?" A man with greying hair, green eyes, very tall, over 6 feet, strong complexion and wearing a blue business suit ran into the room. "Bloody hell," he said, moving over to his daughter. "Please no," he cried, picking her up. "No," he said again, and then looked up to see Josh sitting against the wall, his hands stained with blood. _

_"Joshua!" Malcom called, but Josh continued to stare at his hands, frozen in time. "Joshua! What happened!? Joshua! Joshua!..._

"Joshua! Come on, Josh, wake up!" called a very familiar voice.

Josh's eyes fluttered open as the face of Mr. Arthur Weasley, Ron's father, appeared in his line of sight. "That's it," Mr. Weasley spoke, moving back as Josh sat up. He squinted at his eyes as he looked around. He was somewhere else and not in the Auror Offices.

"Where am I?" Josh asked, noticing he was on a white bed.

"You're in the Healer's Wing of the Ministry," Mr. Weasley answered, taking a seat. "Nearly scared us to death with your screaming and shouting. May I ask what happened?"

"I'm not sure," Josh said, touching his head that was numb with pain. "My head felt like as if it was going to explode or something."

"Oh, I see," Mr. Weasley said with a nod and handed Josh a glass of water. "Josh, where is your grandfather?"

"He's away," Josh spoke, then took a sip of water, looking around for Blaise who wasn't there.

Mr. Weasley nodded. "And why were you in the Ministry?"

"I was just taking a tour," Josh lied, setting down the glass of water.

"Oh, of course," Mr. Weasley said. "But still, wondering around the Ministry of Magic is something one shouldn't do. People tend to get lost, or see something they're not suppose to."

"Oh," Josh breathed out, then looked around again. "Where's Blaise?" he asked, and soon got his answer when there was a flush and then the opening of a door. Josh looked to his right where a door opened to reveal a small bathroom and Blaise exiting that bathroom.

Blaise threw a napkin in the trash, and looked up to see his friend awake. "Hey," he smirked. "Glad to see you awake."

"Hey," Josh said with a small wave. "How long was I out?"

"Bout an Hour," Blaise answered, taking a seat on the other side of the bed, opposite of Mr. Weasley.

"And you stayed the whole hour?" Josh said. Blaise smirked and shrugged.

"So, Josh, do you know how long you Grandfather will be gone?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"A while, I guess," Josh answered, scratching his arm and shrugging. "He's away a lot for his job. And while he's gone, Tibby, our House elf, takes care of me."

"I see," Mr. Weasley said. "What does he do for a living?" Josh shrugged, he never really knew, nor did he ask. Though, he did ask once, but all his Grandfather said was that it wasn't that speacial to talk about. "Okay, well, excuse me," Mr. Weasley said, standing up. "I have to make a floo call." And the he left.

Josh turned to Blaise. "Well?" His friend said. "What happened to you?"

"I'm not sure," Josh answered, looking away. "We were talking, and then my head was about to explode, or it felt like it was going to, and then i black out, and dreamt."

"Oh," Blaise said with a nod. "What did you dream about?"

"Oh, nothing important," Josh said with a shrug his eye twitching a little. Though, Josh knew well enough that that dream wasn't a dream but something very important that might have happened in his life when he was younger. But the question was, why hadn't he remembered it? Did he chose to block away that memory or did his mother, who obviously survived the injury she was given. Maybe it really was just a dream, but to Josh, it felt so real.

"Josh, are you alright?" Blaise asked, after a minute of silence. "You look like you're gonna be sick?"

"I'm fine," Josh answered with a reassuring smile, though his eye twitched. "Don't worry about me, I'm the Heir of Slytherin, I can handle these things," he said without thinking.

"You're the what?" Blaise asked, looking dumbstruck. Josh looked up at his confused friend.

"What?" He said trying to look confused himself.

"You said you were the Heir of Slytherin?" Blaise repeated, crossing his arms. "What does that even mean?" Josh smiled at Blaise's calm stare, and then sighed and told him everything he told Daphne about being the Heir of Slytherin.

"So, I guess that explains why you can speak Parseltongue,? Blaise spoke, standing out of his chair, facing away fom Josh. "I don't see why you didn't tell me. I'm mean, we're best friends, you should of told me when you learned this."

"I know, I'm sorry," Josh said, bowing his head.

"I mean, the Heir of Slytherin?" Blaise said, turning to Josh. "That's a pretty cool thing to learn. I mean, to be related to Slytherin himself, it would be an honor to most. Though, sucks about being Voldemort's cousin, but still."

"Thanks, Blaise," Josh said, turning towards the opened doorway, seeing a familiar looking man pass across, looking a lot like his real father. "What the..."

"What?" Blaise said, looking over to the doorway.

"Nothing," Josh lied, sitting back his eye twitching. A few seconds later, Mr. Weasley entered the small wing once more.

"Ah, good news, Mr. Anderson," Mr. Weasley said, moving closer to the bed.

"Black," Blaise blurted out, causing Josh to throw his pillow at him. "Just happens to be the color of my suit," he thought up, earning a puzzled look from Mr. Weasley.

"Right," the older man said, then turned to Josh. "Anyways, I spoke to your Grandfather and Molly, and it was settled that you are to come stay with us for the rest of the summer."

Josh continued to stare at Mr. Weasley, looking unexcited. It wasn't that he hated the Burrow, just who lived there at the Burrow that happened to be the same age as him. But he couldn't say no. Mrs. Weasley was the best cook he knew, better than his mum, and he could visit Ginny and the Twins.

"I don't know, Mr. Weasley," Josh started to say.

"Before you say anymore," Mr. Weasley said, waving over to Josh and sitting down. "Harry will be there, and so will Hermione, and another surprise is that we'll be going to the Quidditch World Cup. We have an extra ticket if you would like to go?"

Josh's eyes lit up. The Quidditch World cup? He had never been to one, and this would be a good chance to go, a once in a lifetime opputunity. He looked over to Blaise who was wide eyed and nodded. Josh turned back to Mr. Weasley, and nodded. "Yeah, okay Mr. Weasley. I'll stay there."

"Okay, good," Mr. Weasley spoke, nodding. "Okay, well we'll get you two home, and then you can pack, and me and my sons will come pick you up in the morning." Josh and Blaise nodded as Mr. Weasley nodded once more.

"Well, looks like you just became one lucky bastard," Blaise spoke with a smirk.

"Yeah, I guess," Josh said, stretching. "I was just hoping I didn't have to deal with Ron for the summer."

"Yeah, but still, you 'll have two pretty girls there to keep you company," Blaise said. "Maybe you should make your move on one of them."

"Maybe," Josh said with a smile, thinking of a whole different girl he wish he could be with.

Half an hour later, Josh, Blaise, and Mr. Weasley were standing in front of the Head Auror's own personal floo. "Here you go," Mr. Weasley said. "I s'pose you know what to do?" The two boys nodded. "Okay, good. Mr. Zabini, you first."

Blaise nodded and walked into the fireplace, "See ya later," he said to Josh, and then through down the floo powder, shouting his destination.

"Alright, Josh."

Josh walked into the fireplace and grabbed some floo powder. "See you in the morning, Mr. Weasley," he said, then then through down the floo powder, shouting, "House of Anderson!" In the flurry of green flames, Josh disappeared from the Head Auror's office and fell out of his own home's fireplace, landing onto the floor with a thud.

Josh groaned, pushing himself off the floor. "I hate floo travel," he said and then looked around his old home that was now empty of people. Josh stood to his feet and coughed out the dust that was now living in the house. "Okay," Josh said to himself moving out of the sitting room, upt the stairs, and stood in the middle of the second floor hallway. He looked up, seeing a piece of string hanging from the ceiling.

Josh jumped up, grabbing and pulling down on the string, revealing a ladder leading up to the attic. Josh climbed up the ladder and into the attic where boxes and filing cabinets littered the area. Josh walked up to the first box that said pictures on it, and opened it, seeing some photo albums. He picked one up and began looking through it, seeing pictures of him when he was younger, his mother and John, and they were all nonmagical.

Josh kept looking through it until he found what he was looking for. It was a picture of him and John sitting on the steps of a porch, address in plain sight, 132 Birdwell street. Josh tore out the picture and pocket it, and left the attic and the house, and stood on the curb. He took out his wand and flinged it, thinking of transportation.

There was a deafening BANG, and a triple-decker, violently purple bus, appeared out of thin air, stopping in front of Josh. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled _The Knight Bus._

Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to Josh.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Larry Luceport, and I will be your conductor this evening!"

"Hello Larry," Josh greeted, stepping onto the bus.

"Hello," Larry greeted with a straight-teethed smile. "Where can we take you today?"

"Here," Josh said, handing Larry the photo. Larry took the photo, examining the address. "How much?"

"Seven Sickles," Larry answered. Josh nodded and handed the conductor the seven sickles. Larry gave Josh a ticket and walked over to the driver while Josh walked over to one of the available seats and sat down.

"Take 'er away, Ern, 132 Birdwell Street," he said, sitting down in the armchair next to Ernie the bus driver's seat. There was another tremendous BANG as the Bus then began to move super fast, in between the vehicles of muggles. Minutes later, the bus stopped at the intended destination and Josh exited the bus. He stepped onto the sidewalk and stared at his childhood home, the home where his mother was nearly killed by a psychopath, the home where he was going to end that Psychopath's life for what he tried to do to him and his mother nearly 7 years ago.

Josh walked up to the front door and pulled out his wand, and stared at the door with fire in his eyes. He pointed his wand at the door and said, "_Alohamora,_" and the door unlocked and opened. Josh entered the house that was quiet at first, and once he moved in closer, he could hear a television that was on, in the sitting room.

Josh reached the first doorway and peeked inside, which was the sitting room, but it was empty though the tv was on showing some kind of commercial. Josh's eyes moved from the tv over to the corner, remembering that it was the place that him and his mother stood when they were confronted by who he thought was his father. He looked over to the wall where he had sat by a boy with blood on his hands, until his grandfather had found them.

Josh crossed the doorway and the stair and moved towards the kitchen, where he heard clinging sounds. He slowly entered the kitchen seeing a different table, but an 8 year old Josh, sitting there eating food. Josh closed his eyes, and shook his head. When he opened them again, the boy was gone. He continued to hear the clinging and turned towards the counters and sink where a woman in a white sundress and apron stood washing the dishes.

Josh moved in closer, his foot hitting a chair, causing the woman to look behind her. Josh looked up to see his mother, smiling at him. "What are you doing?" she asked sweetly. Josh closed his eyes tightly and opened them to see that the woman in front of him was his mother, but some one else looking frightened. "What are you doing here?" she asked again, only this time it sounded more scared than sweet. He didn't answer her, only to stare back at the woman.

"Hun? Have you seen my black tie?" said a manly voice, and then a tall man wearing a suit without the tie walk into the kitchen from another doorway, shocked to see Josh standing there. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?"

Josh looked up to the man. "John," he said, his hand clenching his wand tightly, the fire burning in his eyes, and a growling monster emerging from his stomach full of anger.

"How do you know my name?" the man said, moving in front of his wife protectively.

"You don't remember me?"

"I can't say that I do," John replied, reached towards a drawer, and Josh noticed flicking his wand and a purple spell flew towards John's hand hitting the drawer leaving a scorch mark.

"Don't do that," He said, pointing towards John with his wand.

"Look son - "

"Don't you dare call me that you bloody bastard," Josh growled, as his left hand began to bleed a little from gripping it too hard. Josh pointed his wand at John. "You have no right!"

"I'm sorry," John said, as his wife began to cry from being scared. "But please, what do you want from us? We're just normal people. We don't even know who you are."

"You should," Josh growled, stepping forward, digging his wand into John's neck. "And i only want one thing from you, and only you, John."

"I can give you money, if that's what you want," John said with a gulp. "You can have my wallet - "

"I don't want your money!" Josh shouted tossing John into the table, sliding to the ground, his wife sliding to the ground in fright.

"What do you want!?" John growled in confusion. Josh growled and moved next to John, grabbing his shirt and digging his wand into the older man's neck.

"Take a hard look, John," he said through gritted teeth. "Who am I!?" John swallowed hard and stared into Josh's face as his eyes began to widen in realization.

"Joshua," he murmured.

"That's right, John!" Josh said, pushing the older man down as he stood up straigh. "Joshua, you're stepson who is a demon, a freak of nature!"

"I-I-I thougt you were dead," John stuttered. Josh turned and backhanded the older man.

"Wrong, John!" he said. "I am very much alive. Can't say the same for my mother, now can I?"

"Joshua, wait, I didn't mean to, I was scared, and I didn't know - "

"Shut up!" Josh shouted, pointing his wand back at the older man. "You killed her! And you were going to kill me too!" John shook his head as he began to get very afraid. "I'm sorry but you have to pay for what you did, John! For what you were going to do, for what you might do to your new wife!" Josh growled, the tip of his wand glowing red.

_Do it Josh! _A voice inside his head said, sound a lot like his boggart from last year. _Do it! You know you want to! He nearly killed your mother and he was going to kill you too! He needs to be punished! He needs to suffer like you have! He needs to die! DO IT!_

"No!" shouted another manly voice that grabbed Josh's wand arm, and pulled him away, pushing him to the floor and to his knees. Josh stood back up and quickly turned around in anger only to face his real father, Sirius Black.


	3. Back to the Burrow

Chapter 3: Back to the Burrow

"Sirius," Josh spat out in anger. There standing in front of John was the fugitive, Sirius Black. Josh's true father. He wasn't in any kind of raggidy clothes, but in nice and clean clothes. He was also clean and shaven, looking better than he lost saw him a weeks ago, but still malnourished. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't worry what I'm doing here," Sirius replied, glancing at the scared woman and John. "Come on!" he said to Josh, who didn't move. "I said, come on," Sirus growled, grabbing Josh by the shoulder, and apparating out of the house.

Josh felt himself twist away from Siruis. The next thing he knew everything went black; he was pressed very hard from all directions; he could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around his chest; his eyeballs were being forced back into his head; his ear-drums were being pushed deeper into his skull, and then it was over as he landed on hard floor, nearly falling. Josh shook his head and looked around to see that he was back in his Grandfather's sitting room.

"What the hell were you thinking about doing?" Sirius growled, pushing Josh into a chair.

"I was going to make him pay for what he did to me and my mum when they were together, for what he did," Josh said angrily. "I was going to torture him, I was going to - "

"To what," Sirius interrupted. "Use the Crutiatus Curse on him?" Josh didn't reply, but stared back at his father. "And what were you going to do after you tortured an innocent muggle," he said, walking up to his son. "Use the Killing Curse?"

"I don't know, he'd deserve it," Josh argued, avoiding Sirius's eyes.

"You think he'd deserve that? Death?" Sirius said, but Josh didn't reply. "After you killed him, then what?" Josh didn't answer. "You'd go to Azkaban, that's what. Have your happiness and hope sucked away by the dementors, be driven mad with despair."

"At least I'd get to see my mother again," Josh replied, glaring back at Sirius. "And that man wasn't innocent. He deserves worse than what he did."

"Don't be stupid, Josh," Sirius hissed. "Your mother wouldn't want you in Azkaban. Neither would I." Sirius sighed and sat down. "Look Josh, you can't act on your emotions. There are always consequences for your actions."

"Yeah, that coming from the guy who tried to murder a muderer but ended up being framed," Josh said heatedly. "If you have used your brain, we wouldn't be in this situation, and maybe I'd be a little more content and not so angry. You were just as rash, hot-headed, and idiotic as him!"

"Don't talk to me like that, Joshua, I am your father!"

"You can't call yourself a father. You have never been there for a child, and besides, this is all your fault!"

Sirius sighed and wiped his face with his hands, then looked at Josh. "Josh, look, I am sorry, but if you would have tortured that muggle, you would have regret it for the rest of your life."

"And what do you care?" Josh said.

"I care because you are my son," Sirius replied. "I wasn't there to take care of you when you were growing up because I was in Azkaban, becuase I was stupid. But now I'm out, I want to keep an eye on you, keep you safe, be a real father."

"Oh, you want to go outside and play football? Have some father/son bonding time?" Josh asked sarcastically.

"It would be a start," Siruis replied, leaning on his knees.

Josh snorted. "How did you even find me?" he asked.

"I've been following you fow a while, thinking of a way to approach you and talk to you," Sirius answered. "And then when you left, Mr. Weasley told me where you went instead of coming home."

Josh rolled his eyes and stood back up, and began walking towards the front door. "Whatever," he murmured.

"Where are you going?' Sirius asked, standing up and stopping his son by grabbing him by the arm.

"I'm going back to finish what I started," Josh said, shaking off Sirius. "That thing deserves to get tortured for what he did!"

"Josh, no," Sirius spoke, grabbing Josh by the shoulders, forcing Josh to face him. "I know he deserves something. I was angered as much as you were when I heard about this, but your mother is alive and well, though she is in Azkaban, but still alive. Just let it go, son. Be the better man. He knows what he's done and he has to live with that for the rest of his life. That's punishment enough for a muggle like him."

Josh sighed heavily through his nose. "Fine," he said, moving away from Sirius and back to his chair. Sirius was right. Living with guilt like that was enough for him, and it was probably boosted after Josh was seen by the muggle, showing him how broken Josh was. He'd have to live with what torture an 8 year old went through after seeing what he thought was the end for his mother, his hand covered in her blood. Something that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Can you just tell me one thing?" Josh spoke up, causing Sirius to look at him. "Why did you go after Pettigrew? Why try and kill him? Yeah, he practically killed your best friend, but were we not important enough for you to understand that if you did what you did, then you'd have to suffer the consequences no matter how bad they were? But still you did it anyways, and you left us. You left my mother and your little boy for your own selfish purposes."

Sirius sat back down and leaned on his knees. "That's not true Josh. You were everything to me. I was a fool who did not know what I had, and my mind was so clouded in anger that I just wanted to kill that rat. Me and James, we were there from the start. He was my brother and I lost him, causing me to lose my head and my family."

"But still, he came before your family, didn't he?" Josh said.

"Don't think for one second that you're not important to me, Josh, because you are," Sirius assured, staring at Josh. "You and your mother."

"Sure, we are," Josh said unconvinced, standing up. But deep down, Josh knew Sirius words were the truth. "I'm gonna pack," he added, and saw Sirius's questioning look. "The Weasleys asked me to stay over for the rest of the summer." Sirius nodded in understanding and stood up as well.

"Good," he said, both moving to the hallway, Sirius stopping by the front door while Josh moved up the stairs. "I'll just go back home, then."

Josh stopped at the stairs and turned towards his father. "Or, you could help me pack," he spoke, putting his hands in his pockets. "I've got a lot of stuff."

Sirius smiled. "Sure, why not." Josh nodded and continued to move up to stairs with Sirius following him, and for half an hour, the two packed Josh's things making small talk, like Sirius asking Josh about his schoolwork, favorite classes, and what he likes to do. After the packing, Tibby made the two some dinner, which they enjoyed and talked some more. And suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Josh stood up and walked over to the doorway and looked down the hallway where Tibby was answering the door. "Sirius," Josh said, turning around. "Can you - " but he stopped as Sirius was gone, but Padfoot was there, sitting on the table chair. "I forgot you could do that," Josh said with a slight smile.

"Joshua," Tibby called. Josh turned and walked to the front door where there were two men standing on the porch, both wearing Minstry robes, one blue, the other green.

"Joshua Black-Anderson?" the one in blue spoke.

"Just Black," Josh corrected, feeling that was his true name which it was and what he accepted from now on. The Blue robed man nodded and wrote in his blue clipboard he had brought with him. "How can I help you?"

"Ah, yes, I'm Auror Red Benson. There seems to be an incident at the address of 132 Birdwell street," the Blue robed man said, as the green robed man stared intently at Josh.

"What does that have to do with me?" Josh asked, though he knew exactly why.

"Well, it seems that magic has been casted there in that muggle home," Red said, glancing at his clipboard. "And we know it was underage magic."

"So, it could be anyone," Josh said, staying calm. "A lot of underage witches and wizards out there."

"Ah, yes," said Red, glancing at his clipboard, then at Josh. "But none of them have a connection to the address, 132 Birdwell Street or to a Mr. John Anderson, like you do."

"So, I haven't seen him in years, or that house," Josh said, still calm as the Auror began to sweat, thinking he was doing his job wrong."

"Let me see," the green robed man said, stepping up.

"Ah, Mr. Black, this is Mr. Adam Sears, and he is a professional Occlumens and Legilimens," Red said, moving out of the way so Adam could get closer to Josh.

"Do you mind if we come in and have a seat somewhere?" Adam asked, his face calm and boring.

"Yes, I mind," Josh said simply.

"Don't have anything to hide, do you Mr. _Black_?" Adam spoke, looking behind Josh.

"Of course not, Mr. Sears," Josh replied, hoping that Sirius stayed where he was.

"Well, then, I guess there's no reason to keep us in the cold then," Adam said, entering the house, and slightly pushing Josh out of the way, and then moved into the sitting room.

"It's the summer, dolt," Josh murmured, nodding Red in. Red nodded and followed his partner, Josh closing the door and following after the adults. He entered the sitting room where the two men where sitting, and Josh took a seat in an blue armchair and stared the men.

"Alright, Josh, Mr. Sears here is going to do a little procedure," Red said, writing in his clipboard. "He's going to probe your mind to see if you're not lying. He's - "

"Yeah, I know what he's going," Josh breathed out, knowing all about Legilimency and Occlumency. "Just get on with it."

Adam nodded and moved over next to Josh, kneeling in front of the teen, and pointed his wand at him. "_Legilimens!_" Josh closed his eyes as the spell was cast on him. He felt something press into his mind, though he only saw darkness and no kind of memories or anything, and then the spell stopped. Josh opened his eyes and saw that Adam was breathing heavily.

"Did you find what you're looking for?" Josh asked with the slightest smirk, knowing that the older man didn't find out anything.

"Unfortunately," Adam said, standing up and moving over to his colleague.

"Nothing?" Red said to Adam who nodded.

"Well, it looks like there's nothing to find here," Josh said, standing up to his feet. "I guess you two should leave - "

"Not yet, Mr. Black," Red spoke, standing up. "There's one thing we have to do."

Josh sighed. "And what is that?" he asked.

"We have to check your wand," Red answered, pulling out his wand, while Adam smirked.

"What? Why?" Josh said defensively, as his wand was in the kitchen.

"We have to check your last spell you casted," Red said. "The spell casted at the Anderson's home was a Stinging Jinx. This will tell me whether or not you casted the spell, so, your wand," he said, holding out his hand.

"It's in the kitchen," Josh said, walking to the kitchen where his wand sat on the table. He grabbed it, walked back to the sitting room, and calmly handed his wand to Red, though he was a tiny bit nervous, wishing he could have casted another spell before these idiots ever showed up.

"Okay," Red said, smiling and wacing his wand over Josh's wand, and then frowned.

"What! What is it?" Adam asked. "Was it the Stinging Jinx?"

"Unfortunately, it's not," Red said, looking up at his partner who swore, though Josh smirked from behind them. "It's last spell was the Levitation Charm, preformed minutes ago."

"Ah ha! Still underage magic," Adam said, pointing at Josh who shrugged.

"I was bored," he said as Red handed him his wand back.

"But still," Red said, writing on his clipboard. "It's underage magic and the Imprope Use of Magic Offices will send you your warning. After that, you will be expelled from Hogwarts and your wand will be destroyed."

"But, if we find out it was you who was at the Anderson Residence, you will have your wand destroyed for lying and insubordination," Adam growled, and the two men left, leaving Josh wondering when he casted the Levitation Charm.

"If your wondering who casted the Levitation Charm," said Sirius from behind Josh. "I did it when we were packing. I still don't have a wand so I borrowed it."

Josh smiled slightly and turned to his father. "Why not? Surely Dumbledore would get you one from Ollivander?"

"Oh yes, Dumbledore is working on it, it just taking a little time," Sirius replied. "He would have to explain why he would need a wand for Sirius Black, notorius escapee from Azkaban."

"Yeah, that's true," Josh spoke. "Ollivander never forgets his customers."

"Exactly."

The next morning, Josh brought his trunk, backpack, and Owl down to the sitting room, where the fireplace was. Sirius had left last night, saying goodbye and that he would still be watching him just in case he tried to do something stupid again, but Josh explaine to him that that wouldn't be a problem since he would be going to the Weasleys, very far away from the Andersons' House, so Sirius left to continue hiding instead of worrying about his son.

At 7:03 A.M., the green flames came to life in the fireplace and out stepped a very tall Weasley wearing a tan shirt and brown pants. A couple seconds later, an identical Weasley stepped out of the flames wearing the same thing.

"Fred, George," Josh greeted with a small smile on his face.

"Joshua, our dear friend," Fred said, moving up to shake Josh's right hand.

"Yes, how have you been?" George asked, moving up to shake Josh's left hand.

"Um, I've been alright," Josh said as his arms were being shaken at the same time.

"And this place," Fred said as him and George let go of Josh's hands and began looking around the house.

"It looks...nice," George added, the twins moving in different directions to examine the sitting room.

"Yeah, I know, it's kind of dull," Josh spoke, leaning on a chair, watching as Fred and George met up at a hutch and looked at some movig photos of Josh's Grandfather and Grandmother in their younger days, including his mother. "It's my Grandfather's."

"That explains the old person smell."

Josh turned around, not knowing that the fireplace had went off again. There standing at the front of Josh's grandfather's fireplace was the youngest Weasley of the Weasley clan, Ginny.

"Ginny," Josh greeted, as he looked her up and down, noticing how pretty she was for a third year. "Been awhile."

"Yes, haven't seen you since the Chamber of Secrets debacle," Ginny said with a slight smile.

"Yes, where have you been? Barely see you at school last year," Josh said.

"Oh, I was around, here and there," Ginny replied, moving towards the center of the sitting room.

"Where's Mr. Weasley?" Josh asked as Fred and George moved next to Josh's things. "I thought he was going to be here. Wasn't really expecting you lot."

"What? Are we not good enough for you, Josh?" Fred said, pretending to look hurt.

"Yeah, you'd rather see an old man, than the youthful faces of your friends?" George added, looking the same way.

Ginny giggled while Josh chuckled and shook his head. "No, I just thought he was the one coming to take me to the Burrow."

"Our dad had to work, so he had us come to get you," Ginny explained.

"Actually he had us," Fred said, pointing at himself and George. "To come and take him home."

"Yeah, you're supposed to be back at home, waiting for use," George added.

"I was bored, and I needed a little freedom," Ginny said.

"Well alright," Fred said, grabbing Josh's owl. "But if mum finds out you left the house without her permission..."

"You better watch out," George said, grabbing Josh's trunk, Josh grabbing his backpack.

"Because if we get in trouble because of you," Fred said, grabbing some floo powder by the fireplace.

"Then we won't have to use Ron as our guinea pig anymore," George added, grabbing his own floo powder.

"Cause it'll be you!" Fred finished, then threw in the powder and stepped into the green flames. "The Burrow!" He shouted, then disappeared with Josh's owl. George was next and he disappeared with Josh's trunk.

Ginny walked up to the fireplace. "So, is Ron okay with me crashing down on his Quidditch World Cup?" Josh asked, following the redhead."

"I don't really know. He didn't show any emotion when dad told us your were going to stay with us," Ginny asked, grabbing some floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. "What happened between you guys anyways?"

Josh shrugged and grabbed some floo powder. "Just stuff," he answered. Ginny nodded then flooed back to her home. Josh then stepped into the fireplace, threw down the powder, and shouted, "The Burrow!" and disappeared into the warm green flames. He spun faster and faster, elbows tucked tightly to his sides, blurred fireplaces flashing past him. Then, when at last he felt himself slowing down, he threw out his hands and came to a halt in time to prevent himself from falling face forward out of the Weasleys' kitchen fire.

" - can't believe you left without my permission," Josh heard Mrs. Weasley's say from the sitting room. Josh coughed and then entered himself where he found Mrs. Weasley reprimanding Ginny for leaving. "Something could have happened - " Josh cleared his throat, gaining the women's attention. "Oh, hello, Joshua, how are you?" Mrs. Weasley asked, as Ginny began inching away.

"I'm good, and you?" Josh replied, adjusting his backpack.

"I'm well," Mrs. Weasley replied with a smile. "Fred and George took your things up to Bill and Charlie's room, you'll be staying with them till Hogwarts." Josh nodded and walked towards the stairs. "I'm not done with you, young lady," he heard Mrs. Weasley said.

Josh walked up to the third floor and entered the room where there were three beds, and one of them was already occupied by an older redhead, older than the Weasley twins, and Josh's things were under on of the other beds.

"Hello," the redhead said, standing out of bed and holding out his hand. "I'm Charlie."

"Josh," Josh replied, shaking the man's large hand and feeling calluses and blisters under his fingers which Josh knew the cause of them, and not because Ron told him of what Charlie did for a living. Charlie had a broad, good-natured face, which was weather-beaten and so freckly that he looked almost tanned; his arms were muscular, and one of them had a large, shiny burn on it.

"Dragon Handler," Josh said, letting go of Charlie's hand. "Must be a very tough job."

"It has its ups and downs," Charlie said, moving over to sit by the bed. "But I like it. Wouldn't trade it for anything else." Josh nodded when someone else entered the room. He was tall, with long red hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it. his clothes would not have looked out of place at a rock concert, except that Josh recognized his boots to be made, not of leather, but of dragon hide. He was, lack for a better word, cool, or maybe just beyond cool.

"Hello," he greeted, dropping a bag on the last bed. "You must be Joshua."

"I am," Josh replied with a smile and holding out his hand. "And you must be the leader of siblings, Bill."

"That I am," Bill said, shaking Josh's hand, let go seconds later, and began to pull out some clothes.

Josh sat down and watched the eldest Weasley child. Bill was different. Josh knew that he worked for the wizarding bank, Gringotts, and that Bill had been Head Boy at Hogwarts; Josh just figured that Bill would be like an older version of Percy: fussy about rule-breaking and fond of bossing everyone around, but he didn't seem anything like Percy.

"Your friends are upstairs if you'd like to see them," Charlie spoke up. "You don't have to hang out with us older gents."

Josh shrugged. "It's okay," he said. "I don't know if I want to see Ron right now."

"What did he do now?" Bill asked, sitting on his bed. "Didn't steal your girlfriend did he?"

Josh laughed. _Like Ron could do that to me, _he thought. "No, I don't have one," Josh answered. "It's just, we don't share the same views on Slytherins."

"Oh, yeah," Charlie said. "Thinks all Slytherins are dark witches and wizards just waiting to happen."

"Yup," Josh said with a nod. "He's wrong though. Some are actually nice, they're not judgemental, and they're fun to hang out with. My mum was in Slytherin, and she's not mean at all. I mean, she did fall in love with a Gryffindor."

"Really? Who?" Bill asked. "Maybe we know him or something."

"Oh, I think you do," Josh said with a nervous laugh. He couldn't tell them his father was Sirius. What if they thought he was a convicted murderer and would start acting all weird or something. They wouldn't know Sirius was innocent, would they? But he was saved when Mrs. Weasley popped into the room.

"Bill, Charlie, Could you give me a hand?" She asked. Bill and Charlie nodded, stood up and followed their mother somewhere. Josh, mustering up all his Gryffindor courage, decided to go up and see Ron. Maybe they could patch things up or something, after all, he did save Ron's life from a werewolf. Nor did they really end on bad terms at the end of last year.

Josh exited the room and began to make his way all the way to the top of the Burrow, where Ron's room was. The door was closed, so he knocked. The door opened to reveal a girl with very pretty girl with bushy brown hair.

"Hi," Josh breathed out, shocked how different his friend, Hermione, look.

"Joshua!" She shrieked, jumping towards Josh and hugging him, and then let go. "Why haven't you been writing us, and what's up with you not saying goodbye anymore?

"Oh, I...don't know," Josh spoke, and then he was saved when Hermione was pushed out of the way by Ron who was the same, but taller.

"Hello, mate! How was your summer?" Ron asked, shaking Josh's hand and pulling Josh into his room. "Mine was pretty good, and it's going to get better with the Quidditch Wrld Cup and all. Even Harry will be here, can't wait."

"Yeah, that's great, Ron," Josh said, not sure of how this was going. He turned to Hermione with a questioningly look, but She only shrugged, not know what was going on either.

"Hermione, can you come here," Ginny spoke from the doorway. Hermione nodded and followed her out of Ron's room and away. Josh turned to back to Ron who began to look at Josh with annoyance.

"Look, the only reason I acted that way was because Hermione likes you and because she told me to be nice to you while your here," Ron explained, sitting on his bed. "I don't really want you here, but it's not my place to keep you out."

"What?" Josh said, shocked about his change of personality, and shocked that Hermione likes him. "Ron, if you don't want me here, then I'll go," he replied to Ron. "There are other places I could stay. I don't need your attitude keeping me annoyed while I'm here, if i stay here."

"Fine, then leave, I don't care," Ron replied, lieing on his paid and staring at the ceiling.

Josh turned to leave, but stopped, and turned back to Ron. "No, I'm not going to leave," he growled at Ron who ignored him. "I'm going to stay, not because your dad asked me to, but because I wanted to be surrounded by some of my best friends, and have a little fun. And if i have to put up with you, then fine, I can manage that for a few weeks."

"Fine," Ron said, not looking at Josh who glared at the redhead and then left the room, muttering to himself.

**A/N: Here we are. Not that great of an ending but it's catching on! Next Chapter? Harry will be here! And then things will get weird, and I know who i want Josh paired up with, give me your opinion on you would liked to be paired up with who? We got Josh, Blaise, Ron, Harry, and Neville for the boys, and Daphne, Tracey, Hermione, Ginny, maybe Luna, and maybe a new girl coming up. They won't be paired off just like that right away, there will be obstacles and complications.**


	4. Letting Her Know

Chapter 4: Letting Her Know

In the evening, Josh was informed that it was time Harry would arrive at the Burrow. After half an hour he was informed, Josh went down the stairs and into the kitchen that was full of people, including Harry, and Mr. Weasley who happened to be shouting at one of his twin sons.

"That wasn't funny Fred!" Mr. Weasley shouted as Josh walked over to Harry and shook his hand, then walked over and sat in a chair. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything," said Fred, with another evil grin. "I just dropped it… It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to."

"You dropped it on purpose!" roared Mr Weasley. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet -"

"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly.

"It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!"

Harry, Josh, and the Weasleys roared with laughter again.

"It isn't funny!" Mr Weasley shouted. "That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons."

"We didn't give it to him because he's a Muggle!" said Fred indignantly.

"No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git," said George. "Isn't he, Harry?"

"Yeah, he is, Mr Weasley," said Harry earnestly and Sophie shrugged.

"That's not the point!" raged Mr Weasley. "You wait until I tell your mother -"

"Tell me what?" said a voice behind them. Everyone'e head in the kitchen turned towards Mrs. Weasley, her eyes were presently narrowed with suspicion.

"Oh hello, Harry dear," she said, spotting him and smiling. Then her eyes snapped back to her husband. "Tell me what, Arthur?"

Mr. Weasley hesitated. Josh could tell that, however angry he was with Fred, and George, he hadn't really intended to tell Mrs. Weasley what had happened. There was a silence, while Mr. Weasley eyed his wife nervously. Then Hermione and Ginny appeared in the kitchen doorway behind Mrs. Weasley.

Both of them smiled at Harry, who grinned back, which Josh noticed, made Ginny go scarlet - she had been very taken with Harry ever since his and his sister's first visit to the Burrow.

"Tell me what, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley repeated, in a dangerous sort of voice.

"It's nothing, Molly," mumbled Mr. Weasley, "Fred and George just - but I've had words with them -"

"What have they done this time?" said Mrs. Weasley. "If it's got anything to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes -"

"Why don't you show Harry where they're sleeping, Ron?" said Hermione from the doorway.

"They know where they're sleeping," said Ron. "Harry's sleeping in my room -"

"We can all go," said Hermione pointedly.

"Oh," said Ron, cottoning on. "Right."

Josh snorted, and leaned on the table, wanting to see this. "You too, Josh," Hermione added, looking sternly at him. Josh raised his eyebrows and was about to tell her no, when she spoke before he could. "Now. Besides, I have to tell you something important."

Josh sighed and stood up.

"Yeah, we'll come too," said George.

"You stay where you are!" snarled Mrs. Weasley.

Harry, Josh, and Ron edged out of the kitchen, and they, Hermione, and Ginny set off along the narrow hallway and up the rickety staircase that zigzagged through the house to the upper stories.

"What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked as they climbed, Josh lagging behind.

Ron and Ginny both laughed, although Hermione didn't. Josh exactly knew what they were, but he wasn't paying attention right at the moment as his thought were on Hermione and what she wanted to talk to him about.

"Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room," said Ron quietly. "Great long price lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing all that…"

"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things," said Ginny. "We thought they just liked the noise."

"Only, most of the stuff - well, all of it, really - was a bit dangerous," said Ron, "and, you know, they were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money, and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the order forms… She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected."

O.W.L.s were Ordinary Wizarding Levels, the examinations Hogwarts students took at the age of fifteen.

"And then there was this big row," Ginny said, "because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."

Just then a door on the second landing opened, and a face poked out wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a very annoyed expression.

"Hi, Percy," said Harry. Josh merely glanced and nodded, already having a run in with him earlier, when Josh tried to use the bathroom that was already occupied by Percy.

"Oh hello, Harry," said Percy, then saw Josh. "Hello, Joshua. I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work in here, you know I've got a report to finish for the office – and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."

"We're not thundering, "said Ron irritably. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."

"What are you working on?" Harry asked.

"A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation," said Percy smugly. "We're trying to standardise cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin - leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year -"

"That'll change the world, that report will," said Ron. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."

Percy went slightly pink.

"You might sneer, Ron," he said heatedly, "but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow bottomed products that seriously endanger -"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," said Ron, and he started off upstairs again. Percy slammed his bedroom door shut. As Harry, Josh, Hermione, and Ginny followed Ron up three more flights of stairs, shouts from the kitchen below echoed up to them. It sounded as though Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Weasley about the toffees.

Josh entered Ron's room the second time that day: the same posters of Ron's favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, were whirling and waving on the walls and sloping ceiling, and the fish tank on the windowsill, which had previously held frog spawn, now contained one extremely large frog. Ron's old rat, Scabbers, was here no more, but instead there was the tiny gray owl.

"Shut up, Pig," said Ron, making his way to one of the two beds that had been put into the room. "You'll be staying with me of course, Harry. Hermione with Ginny, and Josh with Bill and Charlie."

"Er - why are you calling that owl Pig?" Harry asked Ron.

"Because he's being stupid," said Ginny, "Its proper name is Pigwidgeon."

"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," said Ron sarcastically. "Ginny named him," he explained to Harry and Josh. "She reckons it's sweet. And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't answer to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me too, come to that."

Pigwidgeon zoomed happily around his cage, hooting shrilly. Ron had moaned continually about his old rat, Scabbers, but had been most upset when Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, appeared to have eaten him.

"Where's Crookshanks?" Josh asked Hermione,having not seen the cat yet.

"Out in the garden, I expect," she said. "He likes chasing gnomes. He's never seen any before." Josh nodded as Harry and Ron talked about Percy's work.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Hermione?" Josh asked.

"Oh," Hermione said, blushing a little. "I was just wondering if...if..."

"If what," Josh said, glancing at Ron who was pretending to be Percy. He turned he grey eyes back to Hermione who looked back into them. "If what, Hermione?"

"When did your eyes become grey?" Hermione suddenly asked, causing Josh to quickly turn away.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Josh quickly replied. Hermione grabbed Josh by the chin and turned his face towards hers.

"Look," she said, pointing at Josh's eyes. "They're grey, and not brown like I remember. And your hair, like i said on the train. It's darker. It's black. I'm pretty sure it was brown too."

"Oi, what are you doing?" Ron spoke, saving Josh who looked at Ron and Harry sideways. "Not trying to force him to snog you, Hermione, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Hermione said, blushing and letting go of Josh's face. "Honestly, Ron." Hermione then turned to Harry.

"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" said Hermione. "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot," said Harry. "They saved our lives, those cakes."

"And have you heard from -?" Ron began, but at a look from Hermione he fell silent.

Josh knew Ron had been about to ask about his father, Sirius. Ron, Hermione, and Josh had been so deeply involved in helping Sirius escape from the Ministry of Magic that they were almost as concerned about Harry's godfather as he was.

However, discussing him in front of Ginny was a bad idea. Nobody but themselves and Professor Dumbledore knew about how Sirius had escaped, or believed in his innocence. Josh and Harry glanced at one another, both thinking if one or the other had contact with Sirius. Everyone knew Sirius was Harry's godfather, but only Harry knew that Sirius was Josh's father.

"I think they've stopped arguing," said Hermione, to cover the awkward moment, because Ginny was looking curiously from Ron, to Harry and to Josh. "Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?"

"Yeah, all right," said Ron. The five of them left Ron's room and went back downstairs to find Mrs. Weasley alone in the kitchen, looking extremely bad-tempered.

"We're eating out in the garden," she said when they came in. "There's just not room for twelve people in here. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables. Knives and forks, please, you three," she said to Ron, Josh, and Harry, pointing her wand a little more vigorously than she had intended at a pile of potatoes in the sink, which shot out of their skins so fast that they ricocheted off the walls and ceiling.

"Oh for heaven's sake," she snapped, now directing her wand at a dustpan, which hopped off the sideboard and started skating across the floor, scooping up the potatoes. "Those two!" she burst out savagely, now pulling pots and pans out of a cupboard, and Josh knew she meant Fred and George. "I don't know what's going to happen to them, I really don't. No ambition, unless you count making as much trouble as they possibly can…"

Mrs. Weasley slammed a large copper saucepan down on the kitchen table and began to wave her wand around inside it. A creamy sauce poured from the wand tip as she stirred.

"It's not as though they haven't got brains," she continued irritably, taking the saucepan over to the stove and lighting it with a further poke of her wand, "but they're wasting them, and unless they pull themselves together soon, they'll be in real trouble. I've had more owls from Hogwarts about them than the rest put together. If they carry on the way they're going, they'll end up in front of the Improper Use of Magic Office."

Mrs. Weasley jabbed her wand at the cutlery drawer, which shot open. Harry, Josh, and Ron all jumped out of the way as several knives soared out of it, nearly missing Josh's face, flew across the kitchen, and began chopping the potatoes, which had just been tipped back into the sink by the dustpan.

"I don't know where we went wrong with them," said Mrs. Weasley, putting down her wand and starting to pull out still more saucepans. "It's been the same for years, one thing after another, and they won't listen to - OH NOT AGAIN!"

She had picked up her wand from the table, and it had emitted a loud squeak and turned into a giant rubber mouse. "One of their fake wands again!" she shouted. "How many times have I told them not to leave them lying around?"

Mrs Weasley grabbed her real wand and turned around to find that the sauce on the stove was smoking.

"C'mon," Ron said hurriedly to Harry and Josh, seizing a handful of cutlery from the open drawer, "let's go and help Bill and Charlie."

They left Mrs. Weasley and headed out the back door into the yard.

They had only gone a few paces when Hermione's bandy-legged ginger cat, Crookshanks, came pelting out of the garden, bottle-brush tail held high in the air, chasing what looked like a muddy potato on legs. Harry and Josh recognised it instantly as a gnome. Barely ten inches high, its horny little feet pattered very fast as it sprinted across the yard and dived headlong into one of the Wellington boots that lay scattered around the door. They could hear the gnome giggling madly as Crookshanks inserted a paw into the boot, trying to reach it.

Meanwhile, a very loud crashing noise was coming from the other side of the house. The source of the commotion was revealed as they entered the garden, and saw that Bill and Charlie both had their wands out, and were making two battered old tables fly high above the lawn, smashing into each other, each attempting to knock the other's out of the air. Fred and George were cheering, Ginny was laughing, and Hermione was hovering near the hedge, apparently torn between amusement and anxiety.

Bill's table caught Charlie's with a huge bang and knocked one of its legs off. There was a clatter from overhead, and they all looked up to see Percy's head poking out of a window on the second floor.

"Will you keep it down?" he bellowed.

"Sorry, Perce," said Bill, grinning. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming on?"

"Very badly," said Percy peevishly, and he slammed the window shut. Chuckling, Bill and Charlie directed the tables safely onto the grass, end to end, and then, with a flick of his wand, Bill reattached the table leg and conjured tablecloths from nowhere.

By seven o'clock, the two tables were groaning under dishes and dishes of Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking, and the nine Weasleys, Harry, Josh, and Hermione were settling themselves down to eat beneath a clear, deep-blue sky.

At the far end of the table, Percy was telling his father all about his report on cauldron bottoms.

"I've told Mr. Crouch that I'll have it ready by Tuesday," Percy was saying pompously. "That's a bit sooner than he expected it, but I like to keep on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time, I mean, its extremely busy in our department just now, what with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman -"

"I like Ludo," said Mr. Weasley mildly. "He was the one who got us such good tickets for the Cup. I did him a bit of a favour: his brother, Otto, got into a spot of trouble - a lawnmower with unnatural powers - I smoothed the whole thing over."

"Oh Bagman's likable enough, of course," said Percy dismissively, "but how he ever got to be Head of Department… when I compare him to Mr. Crouch! I can't see Mr. Crouch losing a member of our department and not trying to find out what's happened to them. You realize Bertha Jorkins has been missing for over a month now? Went on holiday to Albania and never came back?"

"Yes, I was asking Ludo about that," said Mr. Weasley, frowning. "He says Bertha's gotten lost plenty of times before now - though must say, if it was someone in my department, I'd be worried…"

"Oh Bertha's hopeless, all right," said Percy. "I hear she's been shunted from department to department for years, much more trouble than she's worth… but all the same, Bagman ought to be trying to find her. Mr. Crouch has been taking a personal interest, she worked in our department at one time, you know, and I think Mr. Crouch was quite fond of her - but Bagman just keeps laughing and saying she probably misread the map and ended up in Australia instead of Albania. However" - Percy heaved an impressive sigh and took a deep swig of elderflower wine - "we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Cooperation without trying to find members of other departments too. As you know, we've got another big event to organize right after the World Cup."

Percy cleared his throat significantly and looked down toward the end of the table where Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione were sitting. "You know the one I'm talking about, Father." He raised his voice slightly. "The top-secret one."

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to Harry, "He's been trying to get us to ask what that event is ever since he started work. Probably an exhibition of thick-bottomed cauldrons."

Hermion and Josh were in a little heated argument.

"Will you please tell me about your hair and your eyes?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, I honestly don't know what you're talking about," Josh lied, eating his food.

"Don't you make me hex you," Hermione whispered fiercely at Josh who rolled his eyes.

"Like you could," Josh mumbled, as his legged was kicked. "Ow, what the bloody hell!?"

"You're obviously hiding something Anderson," Hermione said. "You can't keep secrets from me- er- us!"

"Alright, Hermione," Josh replied with a heavy sigh. "I'll tell you later, ok? Now, can you please let me eat my dinner?" Hermion nodded and went back to her dinner with a small triumphant smile on her face.

In the middle of the table, Mrs. Weasley was arguing with Bill about his earring, which seemed to be a recent acquisition.

"… with a horrible great fang on it. Really, Bill, what do they say at the bank?"

"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure," said Bill patiently.

"And your hair's getting silly, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, fingering her wand lovingly." I wish you'd let me give it a trim…"

"I like it," said Ginny, who was sitting beside Bill. "You're so old-fashioned, Mum. Anyway, it's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's…"

Meanwhile, Fred, George and Charlie next to Mrs. Weasley, who were all talking spiritedly about the World Cup.

"It's got to be Ireland," said Charlie, through a mouthful of potato. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."

"Bulgaria has got Viktor Krum, though," said Fred.

"Krum's one decent player, Ireland has got seven," said Charlie shortly. "I wish England had got through. That was embarrassing, that was."

"What happened?" said Harry eagerly, regretting more than ever his isolation from the wizarding world when he was stuck on Privet Drive.

"Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten," said Charlie gloomily. "Shocking performance. And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland was slaughtered by Luxembourg."

Mr. Weasley conjured up candles to light the darkening garden before they had their homemade strawberry ice cream, and by the time they had finished, moths were fluttering low over the table, and the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass and honeysuckle. Josh was feeling extremely well fed and at peace with the world as he watched several gnomes sprinting through the rosebushes, laughing madly and closely pursued by Crookshanks.

Ron looked carefully up the table to check that the rest of the family were all busy talking, then he said very quietly to Harry, "So - have you heard from Sirius lately?"

Hermione looked around, listening closely and Josh leaned in casually.

"Yeah," said Harry softly, glancing at Josh who was staring back, "twice. He sounds okay. I wrote to him yesterday. He might write back while I'm here."

"Look at the time," Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, checking her wristwatch. "You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry, Joshua, if you leave your school lists out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup, the match went on for five days last time."

"Wow - hope it does this time!" said Harry enthusiastically.

"Well, I certainly don't," said Percy sanctimoniously. "I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days."

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" said Fred.

"That was a sample of fertiliser from Norway!" said Percy, going very red in the face. "It was nothing personal!"

"It was," Fred whispered to Harry and Josh as they got up from the table.

"We sent it," George added.

Half and hour later, Josh was emerging frome the bathroom wearing his a t-shirt and blue pajama pants with a towel over his shoulder and his toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. Ginny was waiting outside and smiled at him and entered the bathroom with her own towel. Josh was about to enter the room he was to sleep in when he heard someone whisper his name from the stairs.

"Joshua," the familiar voice of Hermione whispered. Josh sighed and walked over to the stairs.

"What?" he said at the top of the landing, seeing her halfway up the stairs.

"Well, you're going to tell me what happened to your eyes and hair, remember?" Hermione remimded Josh who sighed.

"Now?" he said, pulling his toothbrush out of his mouth. "Hermione, it's late and I'm tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

"No," Hermione said simply, grabbing Josh's hand and dragged him all the way down to Ginny's room, shut the door and sat him on the bed. "Spill it. What happened?"

"Glamour charm," Josh answered with a sigh, looking around the dimly lit room, which wasn't really girly-looking at all.

"Your using a glamour charm? Why?" Hemione asked, sitting next to Josh.

"No, I'm not using one," Josh replied. "I was put under one for 12 years."

"Why?"

"Hermione, if I tell you this, you have to swear that you can't tell anyone else, at least not until I'm ready for them to know, okay?"

Hermione nodded and grabbed Josh's hand. "I swear."

Josh took a deep breath, let it out, and began to tell Hermione all about his real father and about how he was jailed when he tried to kill someone. About how he left his mother and him as a baby for revenge, about how his mother was angered and then try to erase him from his son's life, though he didn't know his real father was his real father until the truth was revealed to him some weeks ago when his real father had escaped from prison. All he left out was his stepfather, what he did, what Josh did, and his father's name.

"So, your muggle father ecaped prison to tell you that he was your father?" Hermione asked, thinking over what Josh had just told her.

Josh sighed and stood up, scratching the back of his neck. "My father wasn't a muggle," he said, puzzling Hermione. "He was a wizard..."

"A wizard," Hermione repeated. Josh nodded and waited for Hermione to make the connection. Hermione looked back up at Josh with a puzzled epression. "I don't..."

Josh breathed through his nose and sat back down, next to Hermione. "Think about what I just explained to you, but think of a wizard," Josh said, and Hermione nodded. After a minute of thinking, she gasped, covering her mouth as she figured it all out.

"You're father is...Sirius?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah."

Hermione stood up and began to pace. "Oh my," she said. "This is...I don't know what this is. It's strange, unbelievable."

"Let's not make a big deal about this, Hermione," Josh said.

"A big deal?" Hermione said, facing Josh. "Josh, you were lied to your whole life," she said. "Your mother lied to you, lied about who you really are."

"Yes, I know," Josh said. "But I don't care about it, anymore. She only did it, because she thought Sirius was a murderer. And I understand that now. I accept that I'm not an Anderson, but a Black. Pureblood, Joshua Malcom Black, Heir of Slytherin."

"Wait, What?" Hermione said. "Heir of Slytherin?"

Josh grimaced. _I really need to think before I speak, _he thought to himself.

**A/N: Boom! Another chapter! Yes, this is fun! Man, GoF is my all time favorite book. Anyways. Quidditch World Cup is near! and then dangers are coming up! Sweet!**


	5. Small Journey

Chapter 5: Small Journey

_Josh leaned down__ against something that was made of stone. He felt tired and wondered why he was so tired. He wasn't just tired either, he was in pain all over his body, but his left hand was what was in pain the most. He lifted his left hand and looked at it to see his ring finger was missing as if it had been cut off. But what happened to his finger, why was it gone? And then, he heard a voice. _

_"Ah, Young Black. You have brought me back to full life."_

_Josh looked up at a shadowy figure who he couldn't make out, but he could see red eyes and black robes. "Now that I'm back, young Black, I can see that you're a very powerful wizard. Having Slytherin blood in you makes you a powerful wizard, just as I am. Now join me." And a pale, skinny, and skeletal looking hand reached out in front of Josh. "Join me." _

_Josh stared at the skeletal hand, and then reached for it with his own hand and grabbed it. Josh was pulled up to his feet by the figure who was the only one that noticed that Josh's eyes too were now red..._

"Joshua."

Back in Bill and Charlie's room Josh was being shaken awake by Hermione.

"Time to go, Josh," she whispered close to Josh's ear. Josh opened his eyes to see Hermione still in her pajamas, kneeling next to his bed, and sat up.

"What's going on?" Josh spoke a little too loudly, causing Hermione to shush him.

"Be quiet, Bill and Charlie are still sleeping," She whispered, standing up straight. "Get dressed and come down for breakfast," she added, smiling at him and then left the room.

Josh sat up, rubbing his eyes, stretched out, and yawned. It was still dark outside. At the foot of his mattress he saw two large, disheveled shapes emerging from tangles of blankets.

Josh dressed in silence, trying to keep quiet as Charlie and Bill still slept, yawning and stretching, then headed downstairs into the kitchen, where Fred, George, Harry and Ron joined him a couple minutes later.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He looked up as the boys entered and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly. He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.

"What d'you think?" he asked anxiously. "We're supposed to go incognito - do I look like a Muggle, Harry?"

"Yeah," said Harry, smiling while Josh stared at Mr. Weasley, trying not to laugh. "Very good."

"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

Josh knew that Apparating meant disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly in another, but had never known any Hogwarts student to do it, and understood that it was very difficult. He did, however, already experienced it, thanks to Sirius.

"So they're still in bed?" said Fred grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. "Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "And where have those girls got to?"

She bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her climbing the stairs.

"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Harry asked as Josh sat next to George, grabbing his own bowl of porridge.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley, tucking the tickets safely into the back pocket of his jeans. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparition, and when it's not done property it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves."

Everyone around the table winced, while Harry looked confused.

"Er - splinched?" said Harry.

"They left half of themselves behind," said Mr. Weasley, now spooning large amounts of treacle onto his porridge. "So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn't move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind…"

"Were they okay?" Harry asked, startled.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley matter-of-factly. "But they got a heavy fine, and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms - slower, but safer."

"But Bill and Charlie and Percy can all do it?"

"Charlie had to take the test twice," said Fred, grinning. "He failed the first time. Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?"

"Yes, well, he passed the second time," said Mrs. Weasley, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers.

"Percy only passed two weeks ago," said George. "He's been Apparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can."

There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.

"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley, as Josh's ears perked up, but Harry voiced his thoughts.

"Walk?" said Harry. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"

"No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup…"

"George!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and they all jumped.

"What?" said George, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.

"What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!"

Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said, "_Accio_!"

Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped right into Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand.

"We told you to destroy them!" said Mrs. Weasley furiously, holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!"

It was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it was only by using her Summoning Charm that Mrs. Weasley managed to find them all.

"_Accio_! _Accio_! _Accio_!" she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George's jacket and the turn-ups of Fred's jeans.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away.

"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"

All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.

"Well, have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twin's retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer.

"I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday," Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley, as he, Harry, Ron, Josh, Hermione, and Ginny set off across the dark yard after Fred and George.

It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. Fred and George led the way with Mr. Weasley behind them, Ron and Harry behind him, Hermione and Ginny behin them, with Josh pulling up the rear.

Josh looked ahead to see that Harry walked up to Mr. Weasley to talk to him, and Hermione slowing up to walk next to Josh.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Josh said with a nod.

"So, I was wondering," Hermione started, Josh glancing at her, knowing what she was going to talk about. "Who else knows about Sirius and him being your father?"

"Well," Josh said, adjusting his rucksack. "Harry sort of knows. And you, Blaise, and the Ministry...and that's all I know that who knows."

"Wait, Blaise knows?" Hermione said, sounding appalled. "He knew before I did?"

"Yeah, he's my best mate," Josh replied, looking ahead.

"And I'm not?"

"Hermione," Josh said, looking at her sideways. "Of course, you're one of my good friends. It's just, I don't know how people will react when they here Sirius is my father. I mean, people still think he is a convicted murderer. They don't know the truth."

"Ron knows the truth," Hermione said. "Have you told him?"

"Me and Ron don't really see eye to eye," Josh replied. "I think he thinks I might turn on Harry or something. Since he thinks all Slytherins are bad, then he thinks I'm bad because my mum was in Slytherin and I hang out with a few Slytherins."

"But wasn't Sirius in Gryffindor?" Hermione asked. Josh nodded. "Well, maybe if you told him about Sirius, then maybe he'd become less suspicious of you and become more of a friend."

"I don't know," Josh sighed.

"Josh, can I ask you something personal?" Hermione asked. Josh nodded. "Er, do you like someone...somone at school?"

Josh shrugged. "Haven't really thought about it," he said, though in truth, he had thought about it. He knew exactly who he like, and he hoped that they could become more than friends this year, that is if she wants to continue being friends first.

"If you could like someone, who could it be?" Hermione asked, stealing glances at Josh.

"Well," Josh started, shrugging one shoulder. "I could like a lot of girls. I could like Parvati, she's kind of cute. Um, Hannah Abbot is another, or Mandy Brocklehurst, she's pretty cool, or Daphne."

"Daphne Greengrass?"

Josh nodded, not noticing that Hermione looked a little upset. "Yeah, but there are a lot of pretty girls in school, but looks aren't everything. I care more about personality and what she's like. For all I know, Bullstrode could be my soulmate. But Merlin, let's hope it's not," he said, making Hermione giggle.

"And have you told Daphne that Sirius is your father?" Hermione asked, glancing at Josh's face which was still calm.

Josh shook his head. "No, I can't," he answered. "She's not really on speaking term with me at the moment." Hermione turned away so Josh wouldn't see her small smile.

"Why's that?"

"I kind of ignored her last term," Josh spoke, scratching his cheek. "I didn't mean too. Things just got hectic with us and stuff. But me and Blaise did hang out over the summer till I came here. I just hope Tracey's not as mad as Daphne is. I did write her, but she never written me back."

"I'm sure she's not that mad," Hermione said. "Did you see Sirius over the summer?"

"Yeah..." Josh answered, thinking about when Sirius stopping him from torturing an innocent muggle and possibly killing him...

"Josh!"

Josh blinked and turned towards Hermione. "What?"

"Are you okay? You spaced out for a second."

"I'm fine," Josh answered, blinking and turning away from Hermione's prying eyes. What would have happened if Sirius wasn't there? Would he really have killed a person? Could he really do that?

They trudged down the dark, dank lane towards the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue. Josh rubbed his hands together as they were freezing, as well as his feet. Mr. Weasley kept checking his watch.

They didn't have breath to spare for talking as they began to climb Stoatshead Hill, stumbling occasionally in hidden rabbit holes, slipping on thick black tuffets of grass. Each breath Josh took was sharp in his chest and his legs were starting to seize up when, at last, his feet found level ground. _Merlin, I'm out of shape,_ Josh thought to himself. _At least I'm not fat._

"Whew," panted Mr. Weasley, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. "Well, we've made good time - we've got ten minutes."

Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side. Josh smiled at her, thinking about how cute she looked, then turned away when she looked over to him.

"Now we just need the Portkey," said Mr. Weasley, replacing his glasses and squinting around at the ground. "It won't be big… Come on…"

They spread out, searching. They had only been at it for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent the still air.

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it."

Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.

"Amos!" said Mr. Weasley, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.

Mr. Weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a moldy-looking old boot in his other hand.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr. Weasley. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?"

Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. He was Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts.

"Hi," said Cedric, looking around at them all, his eyes flashing at Josh who noticed. Everybody said hi back except Fred, George, and Josh, who merely nodded. Fred and George had never quite forgiven Cedric for beating their team, Gryffindor, in the first Quidditch match of the previous year.

"Long walk, Arthur?" Cedric's father asked.

"Not too bad," said Mr. Weasley. "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"

"Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still… not complaining… Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons - and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy…" Amos Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three Weasley boys, Harry, Josh, Hermione, and Ginny. "All these yours, Arthur?"

"Oh no, only the redheads," said Mr. Weasley, pointing out his children. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's - and Harry, another friend -"

"Merlin's beard," said Amos Diggory, his eyes widening. "Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Er - yeah," said Harry.

"Ced's talked about you, of course," said Amos Diggory. "Told us all about playing against Harry last year… I said to him, I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will…you beat Harry Potter!"

Cedric looked slightly embarrassed. "Harry fell off his broom, Dad," he muttered. "I told you… it was an accident…"

"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you?" roared Amos genially, slapping his son on his back. "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman… but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

"Must be nearly time," said Mr. Weasley quickly, pulling out his watch again. "Oh, this is Joshua Bl...Anderson." Mr. Weasley then cleared his throat, Josh stared wide eyed at the Weasley patriarch who obviously knew the truth. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?"

"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said Mr. Diggory. "There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"

"Not that I know of," said Mr. Weasley. "Yes, it's a minute off… We'd better get ready…"

He looked around at Harry, Josh, and Hermione. "You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do -"

With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the eleven of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos Diggory. They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop.

Nobody spoke. It suddenly occurred to Josh how odd this would look if a Muggle were to walk up here now… nine people, two of them grown men, clutching this manky old boot in the semidarkness, waiting…

"Three…" muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his watch, "two… one…"

It happened immediately: Josh felt as though a hook just behind his navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. Their feet left the ground; Josh could feel Harry and Hermione on either side of him and Ron and Ginny besides Harry; they were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling color; their forefingers were stuck to the boot as though it was pulling them magnetically onward and then - their feet slammed into the ground; Ron staggered into Harry and he fell over; the Portkey hit the ground near his head with a heavy thud. Josh and Hermione collided, Hermione falling on top of Josh.

Josh looked up and over Hermione. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and Cedric were still standing, though looking very windswept; everybody else was on the ground.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice.

**A/n: Short Chapter, but here it is. Nothing too important here, but someone with a crush. Too bad Josh can't have two girls. Oh, and let me know if you do find any kind of errors that don't make sense and i will fix it.**


	6. Bagman and Crouch

Chapter 6: Bagman and Crouch

Josh disentangled himself from Hermione, who was blushing madly, and got to his feet. They had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of them was a pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho.

"Morning, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, picking up the boot and handing it to the kilted wizard, who threw it into a large box of used Portkeys beside him; Josh looked at the box and could see an old newspaper, an empty drinks can, and a punctured football.

"Hello there, Arthur," said Basil wearily. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some… We've been here all night… You'd better get out of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite… Weasley… Weasley…" He consulted his parchment list. "About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory… second field… ask for Mr. Payne."

"Thanks, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, and he beckoned everyone to follow him. They set off across the deserted moor, unable to make out much through the mist.

After about twenty minutes, a small stone cottage next to a gate swam into view. Beyond it, Josh could just make out the ghostly shapes of hundreds and hundreds of tents, rising up the gentle slope of a large field toward a dark wood on the horizon. They said good-bye to the Diggory's and approached the cottage door. A man was standing in the doorway, looking out at the tents.

Josh knew at a glance that this was the only real Muggle for several acres. When he heard their footsteps, he turned his head to look at them.

"Morning!" said Mr. Weasley brightly.

"Morning," said the Muggle.

"Would you be Mr. Roberts?"

"Aye, I would," said Mr. Roberts. "And who're you?"

"Weasley - two tents, booked a couple of days ago?"

"Aye," said Mr. Roberts, consulting a list tacked to the door. "You've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?"

"That's it," said Mr. Weasley.

"You'll be paying now, then?" said Mr. Roberts.

"Ah - right - certainly -" said Mr. Weasley. He retreated a short distance from the cottage and beckoned Harry towards him. "Help me, Harry," Josh heard him muttered, pulling a roll of Muggle money from his pocket and starting to peel the notes apart. "This one's a - a - a ten? Ah yes, I see the little number on it now… So this is a five?"

Josh glanced at Hermione who happened to be turned away from him at the moment.

"You foreign?" said Mr. Roberts as Harry and Mr. Weasley returned with the correct notes.

"Foreign?" repeated Mr. Weasley, puzzled.

"You're not the first one who's had trouble with money," said Mr. Roberts, scrutinizing Mr. Weasley closely. "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."

"Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley nervously.

Mr. Roberts rummaged around in a tin for some change. "Never been this crowded," he said suddenly, looking out over the misty field again. "Hundreds of pre-bookings. People usually just turn up…"

"Is that right?" said Mr. Weasley, his hand held out for his change, but Mr. Roberts didn't give it to him.

"Aye," he said thoughtfully. "People from all over. Loads of foreigners. And not just foreigners. Weirdos, you know? There's a bloke walking 'round in a kilt and a poncho."

"Shouldn't he?" said Mr. Weasley anxiously.

"It's like some sort of… I dunno… like some sort of rally," said Mr. Roberts. "They all seem to know each other. Like a big party."

At that moment, a wizard in plus-fours appeared out of thin air next to Mr. Roberts's front door.

"Obliviate!" he said sharply, pointing his wand at Mr. Roberts, shocking all the teens.

Instantly, Mr. Roberts's eyes slid out of focus, his brows unknitted, and a took of dreamy unconcern fell over his face. Josh's eyes narrowed as he watched closely at the man's expression. Was that the way he had his memory modified? Did his mother erase his memory just like that wizard erased that muggle's memory?

"A map of the campsite for you," Mr. Roberts said placidly to Mr. Weasley, bringing Josh out of his thoughts. "And your change."

"Thanks very much," said Mr. Weasley.

The wizard in plus-fours accompanied them toward the gate to the campsite. He looked exhausted: His chin was blue with stubble and there were deep purple shadows under his eyes. Once out of earshot of Mr. Roberts, he muttered to Mr. Weasley, "Been having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day to keep him happy. And Ludo Bagman's not helping. Trotting around talking about Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you later, Arthur." He Disapparated.

"I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports," said Ginny, looking surprised. "He should know better than to talk about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?"

"He should," said Mr. Weasley, smiling, and leading them through the gates into the campsite, "but Ludo's always been a bit…well…lax about security. You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic head of the sports department though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had."

They trudged up the misty field between long rows of tents. Most looked almost ordinary; their owners had clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible, but had slipped up by adding chimneys, or bellpulls, or weather vanes. However, here and there was a tent so obviously magical that Josh could hardly be surprised that Mr. Roberts, or any kind of muggle, would be getting suspicious.

Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance. Josh rolled his eyes and shook his head, knowing exactly whose tent that was.

A little farther on they passed a tent that had three floors and several turrets; and a short way beyond that was a tent that had a front garden attached, complete with birdbath, sundial, and fountain.

"Always the same," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We can't resist showing off when we get together. Ah, here we are, look, this is us."

They had reached the very edge of the wood at the top of the field, and here was an empty space, with a small sign hammered into the ground that read WEEZLY.

"Weez...ly," Josh pointed and read out loud with a smile and a small laugh. He turned to his friends who were looking at him strangely. "What?" he said, then walked away with a sigh, mumbling, "Well, I thought it was funny."

"Couldn't have a better spot!" said Mr. Weasley happily. "The field is just on the other side of the wood there, we're as close as we could be." He hoisted his backpack from his shoulders.

"Right," he said excitedly, "no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not when we're out in these numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn't be too difficult… Muggles do it all the time… Here, Harry, where do you reckon we should start?"

Harry walked over to Josh who was watching the people pass by, while Mr. Weasley started on the tent. "Josh, I don't know how to put up a tent," he said, looking a bit embarassed. "Maybe you can help? You were raised as a muggle too. Maybe you and your muggle father went camping and showed you how to camp?"

Josh turned to Harry. "Well, once, but I was like 6, and I barely remember anything." he said, which Harry nodded, looking over at Mr. Weasley with a nervous expression. "But I'm sure it won't hurt to see if I do remember how to put up a tent," Josh said, dropping his bag and walking over to Mr. Weasley, with Harry. Josh then beckone Hermione over, because he was sure she knew a thing or two in this area as well.

Josh, Mr. Weasley, Harry, and Hermione worked out where most of the poles and pegs should go, and though Mr. Weasley was more of a hindrance than a help, because he got thoroughly overexcited when it came to using the mallet, they finally managed to erect a pair of shabby two-man tents.

All of them stood back to admire their handiwork.

_Nobody looking at these tents would guess they belonged to wizards_, Josh thought, but the trouble was that once Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived, they would be a party of twelve. Hermione and Harry seemed to have spotted this problem too, and gave Josh a quizzical look as Mr. Weasley dropped to his hands and knees and entered the first tent.

"We'll be a bit cramped," he called, "but I think we'll all squeeze in. Come and have a look."

Harry bent down, ducked under the tent flap. Josh was next and ducked under the tent flap and his eyes widened. He had walked into what looked like an old-fashioned, three room flat, complete with bathroom and kitchen. Oddly enough, it was furnished in exactly the same sort of style as his first home house: There were crocheted covers on the mismatched chairs and a strong smell of cats. This was some of the coolest magic Josh had ever laid his eyes on. He had never seen anything like it.

"Well, it's not for long," said Mr. Weasley, mopping his bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. "I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago." He picked up the dusty kettle and peered inside it. "We'll need water…"

"There's a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us," said Ron, who had followed Harry and JOsh inside the tent and seemed completely unimpressed by its extraordinary inner proportions. "It's on the other side of the field."

"Well, why don't you, Harry, Josh, and Hermione go and get us some water then" - Mr. Weasley handed over the kettle and a couple of saucepans - "and the rest of us will get some wood for a fire?"

"But we've got an oven," said Ron. "Why can't we just -"

"Ron, anti-Muggle security!" said Mr. Weasley, his face shining with anticipation. "When real Muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I've seen them at it!"

After a quick tour of the girls' tent, which was slightly smaller than the boys', though without the smell of cats, Josh, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off across the campsite with the kettle and saucepans.

Now, with the sun newly risen and the mist lifting, they could see the city of tents that stretched in every direction. They made their way slowly through the rows, staring eagerly around.

Their fellow campers were starting to wake up. First to stir were the families with small children; A tiny boy no older than two was crouched outside a large pyramid-shaped tent, holding a wand and poking happily at a slug in the grass, which was swelling slowly to the size of a salami. As they drew level with him, his mother came hurrying out of the tent.

"How many times, Kevin? You don't - touch - Daddy's - wand - yecchh! "

She had trodden on the giant slug, which burst. Her scolding carried after them on the still air, mingling with the little boy's yells - "You bust slug! You bust slug!"

Josh smirked, thinking how cute and funny that scene was. He wondered if things were right, if he would have done things like that; taking Sirius's wand and enlarging slugs, then being told off to by his mum.

A short way farther on, they saw two little witches, barely older than Kevin, who were riding toy broomsticks that rose only high enough for the girls' toes to skim the dewy grass. A Ministry wizard had already spotted them; as he hurried past Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione he muttered distractedly, "In broad daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose -"

Here and there adult wizards and witches were emerging from their tents and starting to cook breakfast. Some, with furtive looks around them, conjured fires with their wands; others were striking matches with dubious looks on their faces, as though sure this couldn't work. Three African wizards sat in serious conversation, all of them wearing long white robes and roasting what looked like a rabbit on a bright purple fire, while a group of middle-aged American witches sat gossiping happily beneath a spangled banner stretched between their tents that read: THE SALEM WITCHES' INSTITUTE.

"Er - is it my eyes, or has everything gone green?" said Ron.

It wasn't just Ron's eyes. They had walked into a patch of tents that were all covered with a thick growth of shamrocks, so that it looked as though small, oddly shaped hillocks had sprouted out of the earth. Grinning faces could be seen under those that had their flaps open.

"The Irish," Josh said, and then, from behind them, they heard their names.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Josh!"

It was Seamus Finnigan, their fellow Gryffindor fourth year. He was sitting in front of his own shamrock-covered tent, with a sandy-haired woman who had to be his mother, and his best friend, Dean Thomas, also of Gryffindor. "Like the decorations?" said Seamus, grinning. "The Ministry's not too happy."

"Ah, why shouldn't we show our colours?" said Mrs. Finnigan in her Irish accent. "You should see what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents. You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?" she added, eyeing Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione beadily.

"Of course, Mrs. Finnigan," Ron said with a nod. "We love the Irish. Right, Guys?"

"Oh, yeah definitely," Harry said, while Hermione just smiled and nodded.

"Actually, I thougt I'd root for the Bul...oomph!...the Irish," Josh corrected, rubbing his stomach, where Hermione had elbowed him. "Gotta love the Irish," he added, glaring at Hermione.

When they had assured her that they were indeed supporting Ireland, they set off again, though, as Ron said, "Like we'd say anything else surrounded by that lot. But seriously, way to almost let it slip, Josh. Luckily Hermione was there to save you."

"Like I needed saving," Josh said, sideglancing Ron. "I can handle myself."

"Sure you can," Ron said.

"I wonder what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents?" said Hermione, changing the subject before a huge argument broke out.

"Let's go and have a look," said Harry, pointing to a large patch of tents upfield, where the Bulgarian flag - white, green, and red - was fluttering in the breeze. The tents here had not been bedecked with plant life, but each and every one of them had the same poster attached to it, a poster of a very surly face with heavy black eyebrows. The picture was, of course, moving, but all it did was blink and scowl.

"Krum," said Ron quietly.

"What?" said Hermione.

"Krum!" said Ron. "Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker!"

"He looks really grumpy," said Hermione, looking around at the many Krums blinking and scowling at them.

"Really grumpy?" Ron raised his eyes to the heavens. "Who cares what he looks like? He's unbelievable. He's really young too. Only just eighteen or something. He's a genius, you wait until tonight, you'll see."

There was already a small queue for the tap in the corner of the field. Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione joined it, right behind a pair of men who were having a heated argument. One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. The other was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation.

"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious – "

"I bought this in a Muggle shop," said the old wizard stubbornly. "Muggles wear them."

"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these," said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers.

"I'm not putting them on," said old Archie in indignation. "I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks."

Hermione was overcome with such a strong fit of the giggles at this point that they had to duck out of the queue and only returned when Archie had collected his water and moved away.

Walking more slowly now, because of the weight of the water, they made their way back through the campsite. Here and there, they saw more familiar faces: other Hogwarts students with their families. Oliver Wood, the old captain of Harry's House Quidditch team, who had just left Hogwarts, dragged Harry over to his parents' tent to introduce him, and told him excitedly that he had just been signed to the Puddlemere United reserve team.

Next they were hailed by Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff fourth year, and a little farther on they saw Cho Chang, a very pretty girl who played Seeker on the Ravenclaw team. She waved and smiled at Harry, who slopped quite a lot of water down his front as he waved back. Josh even spotted a very familiar face, one he had been waiting to see since the end of last term, Daphne Greengrass, who happened to be in conversation with Tracey Davis, her best friend.

"Hermione?" Josh called, moving to catch up to her as she turned towards Josh who handed her his bucket of water. "Can you take this for me? I have to go talk to someone," he said pointing behind him, just as Harry was pointing out somone to Ron.

Hermione looked behind Josh to see Daphne and Tracey, then looked back at Josh. "Fine," she said calmly. "But you owe me."

"Thanks, 'Mione, you're a saint," Josh replied, touching her shoulder and then turned around, walking towards Daphne and Tracey. He was merely feet away when the two girls noticed him. Many thoughts blurred through Josh's mind, thoughts of how he could say 'hi' and make up with Daphne, but the all ended with her walking away from him with an angry expression. So, he just decided to go at it as simple as possible.

"Hi," he greeted, throwing his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"Hi," Daphne greeted calmly, yet coldly.

"Hiya, Josh," Tracye greeted more cheerfully. "How are you?" she asked, earning a glare from her best friend.

"I'm good," Josh answered. "Hey, do you think I could talk to Daphne alone?"

"Sure," Tracey said. "I think I left something in the tent over there," she added and then walked away.

Josh walked up to Daphne who spoke first. "See you're still hanging out with Weasley," she said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah..." Josh said slowly. "I can explain that - "

"Ok," Daphne said simply, and looked at Josh expectantly.

"Well...actually, it's a long story and I'm sure you don't want to hear it. Actually, kind of boring - "

"Try me."

Josh sighed heavily, thinking of the correct way to say his next sentence or it would be his last. "Look, I ran into Mr. Weasley at the Ministry and he offered me to come to the Quidditch World Cup, and I said yes, I mean, I couldn't turn down how generous Mr. Weasley was being, nor could I turn down the World Cup. It's a once in a lifetime oppurtunity. Just because I'm here with the Weasley's doesn't mean I'm hanging out with Ron. I've just been hanging around Hermione mostly - "

"Granger?" Daphne said with her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah," Josh said said with a nod.

"You two hang out a lot?" Daphne asked, looking at the ground.

"I guess so," Josh said, looking at Daphne with a puzzled expression. "How can I not? We're in the same House and have the same friends. It's not like we're dating or whatever."

"Sure," Daphne said with a nod.

"Daphne, I did write you over the summer, but you sent my letter back unopened," Josh said.

"Yes i know," Daphne replied, sitting on a stool next to her. "And if I recall, it was the only letter you sent to me."

"Well, I thought when you sent the letter back, you didn't care anymore." Josh said. "And I have been a little bit busy."

"Joshua, first of all, I do care," Daphne spoke hotly. "I was waiting till you wrote more letters, and gallivanting in Knockturn Alley or the Ministry of Magic is something I remember as being silly and foolish."

"How'd - "

"Blaise told me," Daphne said. "He thought I'd like to know that you collapsed in the Ministry and was unconscious for an hour. He told me what you boys were doing in the Ministry."

"I had to see for myself, alright?" Josh said. "I had to know if I was being lied to all my life. And it turned out that I was. You wouldn't understand."

"Understand what? That you're father is a convicted murderer and your mother aided that murderer and landed herself in Azkaban."

"Look, you don't know anything," Josh growled out, thinking he would kill Blaise later. "Sirius is innocent. He's not a murderer, he never was - Look, I don't have to explain myself to you, Daphne."

"Then, I guess I don't have to explain to you that this friendship, is over," Daphne finished, stood up and walked away from Josh.

Josh watched, with widened eyes and mouth agape, as Daphne walked away. "What the hell just happened?" he said to himself. And then out of no where, and taller boy walked next to him.

"I don't know, but from where I was standing, that looked bloody brutal," he said. Josh turned and walked off, hoping he could catch up with the others, which he did a couple of minutes later.

"You've been ages," said George when they finally got back to the Weasleys' tents.

"Met a few people," said Ron, setting the water down. "You've not got that fire started yet?"

"Dad's having fun with the matches," said Fred.

Mr. Weasley was having no success at all in lighting the fire, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Splintered matches littered the ground around him, but he looked as though he was having the time of his life.

"Oops!" he said as he managed to light a match and promptly dropped it in surprise.

"Come here, Mr. Weasley," said Hermione kindly, taking the box from him, and showing him how to do it properly.

At last they got the fire lit, though it was at least another hour before it was hot enough to cook anything. There was plenty to watch while they waited, however. Their tent seemed to be pitched right alongside a kind of thorough fare to the field, and Ministry members kept hurrying up and down it, greeting Mr. Weasley cordially as they passed. Mr. Weasley kept up a running commentary, mainly for Harry's and Hermione's benefit; his own children and Josh knew too much about the Ministry to be greatly interested. Besides, it wouldn't do Josh any good as he wasn't even listening. Daphne and her declarationg of their ended friendship was on his mind.

"That was Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of the Goblin Liaison Office… Here comes Gilbert Wimple; he's with the Committee on Experimental Charms; he's had those horns for a while now… Hello, Arnie… Arnold Peasegood, he's an Obliviator - member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, you know… and that's Bode and Croaker… they're Unspeakables…"

"They're what?"

"From the Department of Mysteries, top secret, no idea what they get up to…"

At last, the fire was ready, and they had just started cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie, and Percy came strolling out of the woods toward them.

"Just Apparated, Dad," said Percy loudly. "Ah, excellent, lunch!"

They were halfway through their plates of eggs and sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man who was striding toward them.

"Aha!" he said. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"

Ludo Bagman was easily the most noticeable person Josh had seen so far, even including old Archie in his flowered nightdress. He was wearing long Quidditch robes in thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was splashed across his chest. He had the look of a powerfully built man gone slightly to seed; the robes were stretched tightly across a large belly he surely had not had in the days when he had played Quidditch for England. His nose was squashed (probably broken by a stray Bludger, he thought), but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like a very overgrown schoolboy.

"Ahoy there!" Bagman called happily. He was walking as though he had springs attached to the balls of his feet and was plainly in a state of wild excitement.

"Arthur, old man," he puffed as he reached the campfire, "what a day, eh? What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming… and hardly a hiccup in the arrangements… Not much for me to do!"

Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards rushed past, pointing at the distant evidence of some sort of a magical fire that was sending violet sparks twenty feet into the air.

Percy hurried forward with his hand outstretched. Apparently his disapproval of the way Ludo Bagman ran his department did not prevent him from wanting to make a good impression.

"Ah - yes," said Mr. Weasley, grinning, "this is my son Percy. He's just started at the Ministry - and this is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred - Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter, Ginny and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Joshua Bl...Anderson," he finished with a clear of his throat.

Bagman did the smallest of double takes when he heard Harry's name, and his eyes performed the familiar flick upward to the scar on his forehead.

"Everyone," Mr. Weasley continued, "this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets -"

Bagman beamed and waved his hand as if to say it had been nothing.

"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" he said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes.

"I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first - I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years - and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a weeklong match."

"Oh… go on then," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's see… a Galleon on Ireland to win?"

"A Galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked slightly disappointed, but recovered himself. "Very well, very well… any other takers?"

"They're a bit young to be gambling," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't like -"

"We'll bet forty nine Galleons, twenty Sickles, three Knuts," said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all their money, "that Ireland wins - but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand."

"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that," Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter.

"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"

Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval.

"Boys," said Mr. Weasley under his breath. "I don't want you betting… That's all your savings…"

"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, girl, not a chance… I'll give you excellent odds on that one… We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we…"

Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down the twins' names.

"Cheers," said George, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucking it away into the front of his robes. Bagman turned most cheerfully back to Mr. Weasley.

"Couldn't do me a brew, I suppose? I'm keeping an eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite number's making difficulties, and I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty'll be able to sort it out. He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."

"Mr. Crouch?" said Percy, suddenly abandoning his look of poker-stiff disapproval and positively writhing with excitement. "He speaks over two hundred! Mermish and Gobbledegook and Troll…"

"Anyone can speak Troll," said Fred dismissively. "All you have to do is point and grunt." Josh snorted and smiled for the first time since he left Daphne.

Percy threw Fred an extremely nasty look and stoked the fire vigorously to bring the kettle back to the boil.

"Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Ludo?" Mr. Weasley asked as Bagman settled himself down on the grass beside them all.

"Not a dicky bird," said Bagman comfortably. "But she'll turn up. Poor old Bertha… memory like a leaky cauldron and no sense of direction. Lost, you take my word for it. She'll wander back into the office sometime in October, thinking it's still July."

"You don't think it might be time to send someone to look for her?" Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively as Percy handed Bagman his tea.

"Barty Crouch keeps saying that," said Bagman, his round eyes widening innocently, "but we really can't spare anyone at the moment. Oh - talk of the devil! Barty!"

A wizard had just Apparated at their fireside, and he could not have made more of a contrast with Ludo Bagman, sprawled on the grass in his old Wasp robes. Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short gray hair was almost unnaturally straight, and his narrow toothbrush mustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide rule. His shoes were very highly polished. Josh could see at once why Percy idolized him. Percy was a great believer in rigidly following rules, and Mr. Crouch had complied with the rule about Muggle dressing so thoroughly that he could have passed for a bank manager.

"Pull up a bit of grass, Barty," said Ludo brightly, patting the ground beside him.

"No thank you, Ludo," said Crouch, and there was a bite of impatience in his voice. "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box."

"Oh is that what they're after?" said Bagman. "I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent."

"Mr. Crouch!" said Percy breathlessly, sunk into a kind of halfbow that made him look like a hunchback. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh," said Mr. Crouch, looking over at Percy in mild surprise. "Yes - thank you, Weatherby."

Fred, George, and Josh choked into their own cups, and tried to hide their laughter. Percy, very pink around the ears, busied himself with the kettle.

"Oh and I've been wanting a word with you too, Arthur," said Mr. Crouch, his sharp eyes falling upon Mr. Weasley. "Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets."

Mr. Weasley heaved a deep sigh.

"I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times: Carpets are defined as a Muggle Artefact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?"

"I doubt it," said Mr. Crouch, accepting a cup from Percy. "He's desperate to export here."

"Well, they'll never replace brooms in Britain, will they?" said Bagman.

"Ali thinks there's a niche in the market for a family vehicle," said Mr. Crouch. "I remember my grandfather had an Axminster that could seat twelve - but that was before carpets were banned, of course."

He spoke as though he wanted to leave nobody in any doubt that all his ancestors had abided strictly by the law.

"So, been keeping busy, Barty?" said Bagman breezily.

"Fairly," said Mr. Crouch dryly. "Organizing Portkeys across five continents is no mean feat, Ludo."

"I expect you'll both be glad when this is over?" said Mr. Weasley.

Ludo Bagman looked shocked. "Glad! Don't know when I've had more fun…Still, it's not as though we haven't got anything to took forward to, eh, Barty? Eh? Plenty left to organize, eh?"

Mr. Crouch raised his eyebrows at Bagman. "We agreed not to make the announcement until all the details -"

"Oh details!" said Bagman, waving the word away like a cloud of midges. "They've signed, haven't they? They've agreed, haven't they? I bet you anything these kids'll know soon enough anyway. I mean, it's happening at Hogwarts -"

"Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know," said Mr. Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman's remarks short. "Thank you for the tea, Weatherby."

He pushed his undrunk tea back at Percy and waited for Ludo to rise; Bagman struggled to his feet, swigging down the last of his tea, the gold in his pockets chinking merrily.

"See you all later!" he said. "You'll be up in the Top Box with me - I'm commentating!" He waved, Barty Crouch nodded curtly, and both of them Disapparated.

"What's happening at Hogwarts, dad?" said Fred at once. "What were they talking about?"

"You'll find out soon enough," said Mr. Weasley, smiling.

"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it," said Percy stiffly. "Mr. Crouch was quite right not to disclose it."

"Oh shut up, Weatherby," said Fred, causing George and Josh to laugh.

A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with anticipation, and as darkness spread like a curtain over the thousands of waiting wizards, the last vestiges of pretence disappeared: the Ministry seemed to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting the signs of blatant magic now breaking out everywhere.

Salesmen were Apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary merchandise. There were luminous rosettes - green for Ireland, red for Bulgaria - which were squealing the names of the players, pointed green hats bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves adorned with lions that really roared, flags from both countries that played their national anthems as they were waved; there were tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves.

"Been saving my pocket money all summer for this," Ron told Harry as they, Josh, and Hermione strolled through the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker. The miniature Krum walked backward and forward over Ron's hand, scowling up at the green rosette above him.

"Wow, look at these!" said Harry, hurrying over to a cart piled high with what looked like brass binoculars, except that they were covered with all sorts of weird knobs and dials.

"Omnioculars," said the saleswizard eagerly. "You can replay action… slow everything down… and they flash up a play-by- play breakdown if you need it. Bargain - ten Galleons each."

"Wish I hadn't bought this now," said Ron, gesturing at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at the Omnioculars.

"Four pairs," said Harry firmly to the wizard.

"No - don't bother," said Ron, going red. He was always touchy about the fact that Harry, who had inherited a small fortune from his parents, had much more money than he did. Josh wasn't rich either, he was well off, and he didn't mind if people would buy him things.

"You won't be getting anything for Christmas," Harry told him, thrusting Omnioculars into his, Josh's and Hermione's hands. "For about ten years, mind."

"Fair enough," said Ron, grinning.

"Thanks Harry," Josh said with a smile and examining his omnioculars.

"Oooh, thanks, Harry," said Hermione. "And I'll get us some programs, look -"

Their money bags considerably lighter, they went back to the tents. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all sporting green rosettes too, and Mr. Weasley was carrying an Irish flag. Fred and George had no souvenirs as they had given Bagman all their gold, but luckily, Josh had bought them a couple of green rosettes to wear.

"Ah, young Joshua, You didn't have to, you know," George said, trying to look calm, but still looking uncomfortable.

"It's alright, George, it's on me," Josh said, and the Twins accepted their new souvenirs.

And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.

"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any of them. "Come on, let's go!"

**A/n: Here you are. Quidditch Cup next chapter. Oh man, I have so many ideas. And later in the story there will be a huge surprise! You'll just have to wait and see!**


	7. The Quidditch World Cup

Chapter 7: The Quidditch World Cup

Clutching their purchases, Mr. Weasley in the lead, they all hurried into the woods, following the lantern-lit trail. They could hear the sounds of thousands of people moving around them, shouts and laughter, snatches of singing. The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious. They walked through the woods for twenty minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they emerged on the other side and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Josh could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the field, he could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it.

"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again… bless them," he added fondly, leading the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."

The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, and Harry, Josh, and Hermione, filing into the front seats with the Weasleys, looked down upon a scene the likes of which he could never have imagined.

A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at Josh's eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, they saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field.

_The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family - safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burgler Buzzer… Mrs. Shower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!… Gladrags Wizardwear - London, Paris, Hogsmeade…_

Josh tore his eyes away from the sign and looked over his shoulder to see who else was sharing the box with them. So far it was empty, except for a tiny creature sitting in the second from last seat at the end of the row behind them. The creature, whose legs were so short they stuck out in front of it on the chair, was wearing a tea towel draped like a toga, and it had its face hidden in its hands. Yet those long, batlike ears were oddly familiar…

"Dobby?" said Harry incredulously, causing Josh's eyebrows to rise. Dobby, that elf that nearly killed Harry?

The tiny creature looked up and stretched its fingers, revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact size and shape of a large tomato.

"Did sir just call me Dobby?" squeaked the elf curiously from between its fingers. Ron and Hermione spun around in their seats to look. Though they too had heard a lot about Dobby from Harry, they had never actually met him. Even Mr. Weasley looked around in interest.

"Sorry," Harry told the elf. "I just thought you were someone I knew."

"But I knows Dobby too, sir!" squeaked the elf.

She was shielding her face, as though blinded by light, though the Top Box was not brightly lit. "My name is Winky, sir - and you, sir -" Her dark brown eyes widened to the size of side plates as they rested upon Harry's scar. "You is surely Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, I am," said Harry.

"But Dobby talks of you two all the time, sir!" she said, lowering her hands very slightly and looking awestruck.

"How is he?" said Harry. "How's freedom suiting him?"

"Ah, sir," said Winky, shaking her head, "ah sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure Harry Potter did Dobby a favor, sir, when he is setting him free."

"Why?" said Harry, taken aback. "What's wrong with him?"

"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir," said Winky sadly. "Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir."

"Why not?" said Harry.

Winky lowered her voice by a half-octave and whispered, "_He is wanting paying for his work, sir._"

"Paying?" said Harry, blankly. "Well - why shouldn't he be paid?"

Winky looked quite horrified at the idea and closed her fingers slightly so that her face was half-hidden again.

"House-elves is not paid, sir!" she said in a muffled squeak. "No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin."

"Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun," said Harry.

"House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter," said Winky firmly, from behind her hands. "House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter" - she glanced toward the edge of the box and gulped - "but my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, madam."

"Why's he sent you up here, if he knows you don't like heights?" said Harry, frowning.

"Master - master wants me to save him a seat, Harry Potter. He is very busy," said Winky, tilting her head toward the empty space beside her. "Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf."

She gave the edge of the box another frightened look and hid her eyes completely again. Harry turned back to the others.

"So that's a house-elf?" Ron muttered. "Weird things, aren't they?"

"Dobby was weirder," said Harry fervently.

Ron pulled out his Omnioculars and started testing them, staring down into the crowd on the other side of the stadium.

"Wild!" he said, twiddling the replay knob on the side. "I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again… and again… and again…"

Hermione, meanwhile, was skimming eagerly through her velvet covered, tasseled program. "'A display from the team mascots will precede the match,'" she read aloud.

"Oh that's always worth watching," said Mr. Weasley. "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show."

The box filled gradually around them over the next half hour. Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with people who were obviously very important wizards. Percy jumped to his feet so often that he looked as though he were trying to sit on a hedgehog. When Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself, arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off and shattered. Highly embarrassed, he repaired them with his wand and thereafter remained in his seat, throwing jealous looks at Harry, whom Cornelius Fudge had greeted like they were old friends.

"Harry Potter, you know," he told the Bulgarian minister loudly, who was wearing splendid robes of black velvet trimmed with gold and didn't seem to understand a word of English. "Harry Potter...oh come on now, you know who they are… the boy who survived You-Know-Who… you do know who he is -"

The Bulgarian wizard suddenly spotted Harry's scar and started gabbling loudly and excitedly, pointing at it. Josh looked away trying not to laugh, but he couldn't help but find that a little funny. He had to stop when Hermione glared at him.

"Knew we'd get there in the end," said Fudge wearily to Harry. "I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat…good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places… ah, and here's Lucius!"

Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione turned quickly. Edging along the second row to four still-empty seats right behind Mr. Weasley were none other than Dobby the house-elf's former owners: Lucius Malfoy; his son, Draco; one of Draco's friends, Theodore Nott ; and a woman Josh supposed must be Draco's mother, and unkowingly to him, his aunt.

Josh's eyes landed on Nott. The two had been enemies ever since their very first ecounter at Hogwarts. Nott looked a bit older and taller, his brown hair was a bit longer than usual with his hazel eyes, and nearly handsome face, and sneering smile.

A pale boy with a pointed face and white-blond hair, Draco greatly resembled his father. Draco's mother was blonde too; tall and slim, she would have been nice-looking if she hadn't been wearing a look that suggested there was a nasty smell under her nose.

"Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco? Or Draco's friend, Theodore?"

"How do you do, how do you do?" said Fudge, smiling and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy. "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk - Obalonsk - Mr. - well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else - you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"

It was a tense moment. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy looked at each other and Josh vividly recalled the last time they had come face-to-face: It had been in Flourish and Blotts' bookshop, and they had had a fight. Mr. Malfoy's cold grey eyes swept over Mr. Weasley, and then up and down the row.

"Good lord, Arthur," he said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

Fudge, who wasn't listening, said, "Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."

"How - how nice," said Mr. Weasley, with a very strained smile.

Mr. Malfoy's eyes had returned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared determinedly back at him.

Josh knew exactly what was making Mr. Malfoy's lip curl like that. The Malfoys prided themselves on being purebloods; in other words, they considered anyone of Muggle descent, like Hermione, second-class. Mr. Malfoy's eyes then moved to Josh, and he smirked, which looked alarming to Josh and wondered why he was being looked at like that.

However, under the gaze of the Minister of Magic, Mr. Malfoy didn't dare say anything. He nodded sneeringly back to Mr. Weasley and continued down the line to his seats. Draco shot Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione one contemptuous look, then settled himself next to his father. Nott moved and sat at the end, next to Draco.

"Slimy gits," Ron muttered as he, Harry, Josh, and Hermione turned to face the field again. Next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box.

"Everyone ready?" he said, his round face gleaming like a great, excited Edam. "Minister - ready to go?"

"Ready when you are, Ludo," said Fudge comfortably.

Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "_Sonorus_!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message (_Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans - A Risk With Every Mouthful!_) and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.

"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!"

"What are veel -?"

But a hundred veela were now gliding out onto the field, and Harry's question was answered for him. Veela were women… the most beautiful women Josh had ever seen… except that they weren't - human. What could make their skin shine moon-bright like that, or their white-gold hair fan out behind them without wind… but then the music started, and Josh stopped worrying about them not being human - in fact, he stopped worrying about anything at all.

The veela had started to dance, and Josh's mind had gone completely and blissfully blank. All that mattered in the world was that he kept watching the veela, because if they stopped dancing, terrible things would happen...but he blinked, and everything was normal. Josh shook his head, and rubbed his forehead.

_What the hell was that? _Josh thought to himself. He looked back in the stadium and saw that the veela were dancing faster and faster, but he didn't think nothing of it really. It only made him think of one person, Daphne.

Josh turned to his friends to see that Harry and Ron were standing to their feer.

"Harry, what the heck are you doing?" Josh asked, but he was ignored.

The music stopped and Josh watched his friends. Harry was standing up, and one of his legs was resting on the wall of the box. Next to him, Ron was frozen in an attitude that looked as though he were about to dive from a springboard.

Angry yells were filling the stadium. The crowd didn't want the veela to go. Ron was absentmindedly shredding the shamrocks on his hat. Mr. Weasley, smiling slightly, leaned over to Ron and tugged the hat out of his hands.

"You'll be wanting that," he said, "once Ireland have had their say."

"Huh?" said Ron, staring open-mouthed at the veela, who had now lined up along one side of the field.

Hermione made a loud tutting noise and glanced confusedly at Josh who was still in his seat. Hermione then reached up and pulled Harry back into his seat.

"_Honestly_!" she said.

"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air… for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it –

"Excellent!" yelled Ron as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats. Squinting up at the shamrock, Josh realised that it was actually comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or green.

"Leprechauns!" said Mr. Weasley over the tumultuous applause of the crowd, many of whom were still fighting and rummaging around under their chairs to retrieve the gold.

"There you go," Ron yelled happily, stuffing a fistful of gold coins into Harry's hand, "for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!"

The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov!"

A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.

"Ivanova!"

A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.

"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand - Krum!"

"That's him, that's him!" yelled Ron, following Krum with his Omnioculars. Harry quickly focused his own and Josh rolled her eyes at Ron, the focused his omnioculars on the Bulgarian players.

Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen.

"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!"

Seven green blurs swept onto the field; Josh spun a small dial on the side of his Omnioculars and slowed the players down enough to read the word "Firebolt" on each of their brooms and see their names, embroidered in silver, upon their backs.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with a mustache, wearing robes of pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the field. A silver whistle was protruding from under the moustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate under one arm, his broomstick under the other.

Josh spun the speed dial on his Omnioculars back to normal, watching closely as Mostafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open - four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers, and the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch.

With a sharp blast on his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.

"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"

It was Quidditch as Josh had never seen it played before. They were pressing his Omnioculars so hard to their eyes that they would leave imprinted circles around their eyes. The speed of the players was incredible - the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to one another so fast that Bagman only had time to say their names.

Josh spun the slow dial on the right of his Omnioculars again, pressed the play by- play button on the top, and he was immediately watching in slow motion, while glittering purple lettering flashed across the lenses and the noise of the crowd pounded against his eardrums.

HAWKSHEAD ATTACKING FORMATION, he read as he watched the three Irish Chasers zoom closely together, Troy in the center, slightly ahead of Mullet and Moran, bearing down upon the Bulgarians. PORSKOFF PLOY flashed up next, as Troy made as though to dart upward with the Quaffle, drawing away the Bulgarian Chaser Ivanova and dropping the Quaffle to Moran. One of the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov, swung hard at a passing Bludger with his small club, knocking it into Moran's path; Moran ducked to avoid the Bludger and dropped the Quaffle; and Levski, soaring beneath, caught it -

"TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten-zero to Ireland!"

"What?" Harry yelled, looking wildly around through his Omnioculars. "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"

"Harry, if you're not going to watch at normal speed, you're going to miss things!" shouted Hermione, who was dancing up and down, waving her arms in the air while Troy did a lap of honour around the field.

Josh saw that the Irish Chasers were superb. They worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be reading one another's minds as they positioned themselves: "Troy - Mullet - Moran!" And within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the greenclad supporters and huffs from Ron.

The match became still faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.

"Fingers in your ears!" bellowed Mr. Weasley as the veela started to dance in celebration, which weren't affection Josh anymore for some strange reason, though he wanted to keep his mind on the game.

After a few seconds, Bulgaria was again in possession of the Quaffle.

"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova - oh I say!" roared Bagman. One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from airplanes without parachutes. Josh watched as the two seekers went head to head.

"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione next to Josh.

She was half right - at the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiralled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the stadium. A huge groan rose from the Irish seats.

"Fool!" moaned Mr Weasley. "Krum was feinting!"

"It's time-out!" yelled Bagman's voice, "as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"

"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Charlie said reassuringly to Ginny, who was hanging over the side of the box, looking horror-struck. "Which is what Krum was after, of course..."

Josh focused his Omnioculars back on Krum. He was now circling high above Lynch, who was being revived by mediwizards with cups of potion. Harry, focusing still more closely upon Krum's face, saw his dark eyes darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He was using the time while Lynch was revived to look for the Snitch without interference.

Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the green-clad supporters, mounted his Firebolt, and kicked back off into the air. His revival seemed to give Ireland new heart. When Mostafa blew his whistle again, the Chasers moved into action with a skill unrivaled by anything Josh had seen so far.

After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier. As Mullet shot toward the goal posts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Whatever happened was over so quickly Josh didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowd, and Mostafa's long, shrill whistle blast, told him it had been a foul.

"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing — excessive use of elbows!" Bagman informed the roaring spectators. "And - yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"

The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!" The veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again.

As one, the Weasley boys and Harry stuffed their fingers into their ears, but Josh, who hadn't bothered, knowing he didn't need to. Hermione was soon tugging on his arm. He turned to look at her.

"Look at the referee!" she said, giggling.

Josh looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his moustache excitedly.

"Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"

A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself; Josh, watching through the Omnioculars again, saw that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous.

"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said Bagman's voice. "Now there's something we haven't seen before… Oh this could turn nasty…"

It did: The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, landed on either side of Mostafa and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulating toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." Mostafa was not impressed by the Bulgarians' arguments, however; he was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.

"Two penalties for Ireland!" shouted Bagman, and the Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms… yes… there they go… and Troy takes the Quaffle."

Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov in particular seemed not to care whether their clubs made contact with Bludger or human as they swung them violently through the air. Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom.

"Foul!" roared the Irish supporters as one, all standing up in a great wave of green. "Foul!" echoed Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice. "Dimitrov skins Moran - deliberately flying to collide there - and it's got to be another penalty - yes, there's the whistle!"

The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field. At this, the veela lost control. Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. Watching through their Omnioculars, Josh saw that they didn't look remotely beautiful now. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders -

"And that, boys," yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult of the crowd below, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"

Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the veela and the leprechauns, but with little success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one taking place above. Josh turned this way and that, staring through his Omnioculars, as the Quaffie changed hands with the speed of a bullet.

"Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!"

But the cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians.

The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Quaffle, now Dimitrov - The Irish Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing Bludger, and hit it as hard as possible toward Krum, who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him full in the face.

There was a deafening groan from the crowd; Krum's nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted, and Josh couldn't blame him; one of the veela had thrown a handful of fire and set his broom tail alight.

"Time-out! Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him -" Ron shouted.

"Look at Lynch!" Harry yelled.

For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and Harry and Josh were quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing…

"He's seen the Snitch!" Harry shouted.

"He's seen it! Look at him go!" Josh cheered.

Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on… but Krum was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, Josh had no idea; there were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again -

"They're going to crash!" shrieked Hermione.

"No they're not!" roared Josh.

"Lynch is!" yelled Harry.

And he was right - for the second time, Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force and was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry veela.

"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" bellowed Charlie, along the row.

"He's got it - Krum's got it - it's all over!" shouted Harry.

Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand.

The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what had happened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight.

"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron bellowed, even as he jumped up and down, applauding with his hands over his head. "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"

"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Harry shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly. Josh applauding as well. "The Irish Chasers were too good…he wanted to end it on his terms, that's all!"

"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione said, leaning forward to watch Krum land as a swarm of mediwizards blasted a path through the battling leprechauns and veela to get to him. "He looks a terrible mess…"

Josh put his Omnioculars to his eyes again. It was hard to see what was happening below, because leprechauns were zooming delightedly all over the field, but he could just make out Krum, surrounded by mediwizards. He looked surlier than ever and refused to let them mop him up. His team members were around him, shaking their heads and looking dejected; a short way away, the Irish players were dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from their mascots.

Flags were waving all over the stadium, the Irish national anthem blared from all sides; the veela were shrinking back into their usual, beautiful selves now, though looking dispirited and forlorn.

"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice behind Harry and Josh. The two looked around; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.

"You can speak English!" said Fudge, sounding outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"

"Veil, it vos very funny," said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging.

"And as the Irish team performs a lap of honour, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!" roared Bagman.

Josh's eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blinding white light, as the Top Box was magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see the inside. Squinting toward the entrance, they saw two panting wizards carrying a vast golden cup into the box, which they handed to Cornelius Fudge, who was still looking very disgruntled that he'd been using sign language all day for nothing.

"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers - Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted.

And up the stairs into the box came the seven defeated Bulgarian players. The crowd below was applauding appreciatively; Josh could see thousands and thousands of Omniocular lenses flashing and winking in their direction.

One by one, the Bulgarians filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Bagman called out the name of each as they shook hands with their own minister and then with Fudge. Krum, who was last in line, looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming spectacularly on his bloody face. He was still holding the Snitch. Josh noticed that he seemed much less coordinated on the ground. He was slightly duck-footed and distinctly round-shouldered. But when Krum's name was announced, the whole stadium gave him a resounding, earsplitting roar.

And then came the Irish team. Aidan Lynch was being supported by Moran and Connolly; the second crash seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked strangely unfocused. But he grinned happily as Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval.

At last, when the Irish team had left the box to perform another lap of honour on their brooms (Aidan Lynch on the back of Confolly's, clutching hard around his waist and still grinning in a bemused sort of way), Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "_Quietus_."

"They'll be talking about this one for years," he said hoarsely. "A really unexpected twist, that… shame it couldn't have lasted longer… Ah yes… yes, I owe you… how much?"

For Fred and George had just scrambled over the backs of their seats and were standing in front of Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their hands outstretched.

**A/N: Yeah, nearly word for word from the book. not that fun of a chapter but something happened to Josh with those veelas, but what could it be?**


	8. Resolved

Chapter 8: Resolved

"Don't tell Molly you've been gambling," Mr. Weasley implored Fred and George as they all made their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs.

"Don't worry, Dad," said Fred gleefully, "we've got big plans for this money. We don't want it confiscated."

Mr. Weasley looked for a moment as though he was going to ask what these big plans were, but seemed to decide, upon reflection, that he didn't want to know.

They were soon caught up in the crowds now flooding out of the stadium and back to their campsites. Raucous singing was borne toward them on the night air as they retraced their steps along the lantern-lit path, and leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns. When they finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa together before turning in. They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and insisted that everyone go to bed.

Hermione and Ginny went into the next tent, and Harry, Josh, and the rest of the Weasleys changed into pajamas and clambered into their bunks.

From the other side of the campsite they could still hear much singing and the odd echoing bang.

"Oh I am glad I'm not on duty," muttered Mr. Weasley sleepily. "I wouldn't fancy having to go and tell the Irish they've got to stop celebrating."

Josh stared at the top of the tent. He kept thinking about how he ruined his friendship with Daphne. How the heck was he going to fix this now? He didn't know what to do. Maybe he could sweep her off her feet with some kind of romantic jesture, but maybe she didn't like him like that. Or maybe he could save her life or something, that could make things better, or maybe they could just talk. Would that work...

Josh then dozed off to sleep, still hearing singing and odd bangs, but that didn't bother him, he wanted to sleep, but before he knew it, he was being awoken by the sound of Mr. Weasley shouting.

"Get up! Joshua - Ron - Harry - come on now, get up, this is urgent!"

Harry sat up quickly and the top of her head hit canvas. "S' matter?" he said as Josh sat up quickly.

Dimly, Josh could tell that something was wrong. The noises in the campsite had changed. The singing had stopped. He could hear screams, and the sound of people running. Josh slipped down from the bunk and reached for his clothes, but Mr. Weasley, who had pulled on his jeans over his own pajamas, said, "No time, Joshua - just grab a jacket and get outside - quickly!"

Josh nodded and did as he was told and hurried out of the tent, Ron and Harry at his heels. They met the girls outside and by the light of the few fires that were still burning, Josh could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire.

Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene. A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field. Josh squinted at them…they didn't seem to have faces…then he realised that their heads were hooded and their faces masked.

High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air.

Two of the figures were very small. More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Once or twice Josh saw one of the marchers blast a tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming grew louder.

The floating people were suddenly illuminated as they passed over a burning tent and Josh recognized one of them: Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The other three looked as though they might be his wife and children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee.

But he didn't know what he was feeling at that moment. All he knew was the it was funny, and thought that they should deserve it. _Muggles and their idiocracy, _he thought, thinking of what happened earlier in the summer, just a few days ago.

"That's sick," Ron muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick…" Ron turned to Josh and saw that he was staring at them with a strange glint in his eye, and with a tiny smirk upon his face.

Josh noticed someone was watching him. He turned towards to see Ron was staring at him, so his smirk got a little wider.

Bill, Charlie and Percy suddenly emerged from their tent, Mr. Weasley behind them.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot - get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already sprinting away toward the oncoming marchers; Mr. Weasley tore after them. Ministry wizards were dashing from every direction toward the source of the trouble. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was coming ever closer.

"C'mon," said George, grabbing Ginny's hand and starting to pull her toward the woods. Fred, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed, but stopped when Josh hadn't moved.

"Joshua! Come on!" Hermione shouted, breaking Josh from his thoughts and then followed after Hermione.

They all looked back as they reached the trees. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was larger than ever; they could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the center, but they were having great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared to perform any spell that might make the Roberts family fall.

The coloured lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air.

Harry felt himself being pushed hither and thither by people whose faces he could not see. Then he heard Ron yell with pain.

"What happened?" said Hermione anxiously, stopping so abruptly that Harry walked into her. "Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid - lumos!"

She illuminated her wand, Josh following her lead, and directed the narrow beams across the path. Ron was lying sprawled on the ground.

"Tripped over a tree root," he said angrily, getting to his feet again.

"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," said a drawling voice from behind them.

Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione turned sharply. Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott were standing nearby, leaning against a tree, looking utterly relaxed. Their arms folded, they seemed to have been watching the scene at the campsite through a gap in the trees. Ron told Malfoy and Nott to do something that Josh knew he would never have dared say in front of Mrs. Weasley.

"Language, Weasley," said Malfoy, his pale eyes glittering. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?"

He nodded at Hermione, and at the same moment, a blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them. Nott smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Hermione defiantly.

"Granger, they're after Muggles," said Rosalae. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around… they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."

"Hermione's a witch," Josh snarled, taking a step forward.

"Have it your own way, Black," said Nott, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

"You watch your mouth!" shouted Ron. Everybody present knew that "Mudblood" was a very offensive term for a witch or wizard of Muggle parentage.

"Never mind, Ron," said Hermione quickly, seizing Ron's arm to restrain him as he took a step toward Malfoy. There came a bang from the other side of the trees that was louder than anything they had heard several people nearby screamed. Malfoy and Nott chuckled softly.

"Scare easily, don't they?" Malfoy said lazily. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to - trying to rescue the Muggles?"

"Where're your parents?" said Harry, his temper rising. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"

Malfoy turned his face to Harry, still smiling.

"Well… if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"

"Oh come on," said Hermione, with a disgusted look at Malfoy and Nott. "Let's go and find the others."

"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," sneered Nott and Malfoy snickered.

"Come on," Hermione repeated, and she pulled Harry and Ron up the path again. Josh slowly turned but stopped when he was spoken to again.

"What's your hurry, Black," Nott spoke, causing Josh to stop in his tracks. "Stay awhile, hang out with us. Learn to get to know your cousin."

Josh turned to Nott and Malfoy. "Alright, how do you know?" he asked. "And I'm not your cousin."

"Oh, I know a lot, Josh Black, son of Sirius Black," Nott laughed. "And I never said I was the one who was your cousin." Josh's eyes moved from Nott over to Malfoy who was smirking. Josh shook his head, and then took off running in the direction his friends had left to.

After a couple of minutes, Josh looked around. Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were nowhere to be seen, though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pajamas was arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Josh, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly,

"Oü est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue -"

"Er - what?" said Josh, who kept an eye out for his friends.

"Oh…" The girl who had spoken turned her back on him, and as they walked on they distinctly heard her say, "'Ogwarts."

"Oh," Josh breathed out. "You must go to Beauxbatons," he said, and then walked away. "Where are you guys?" Josh whispered to himself, lifting his lit wand and squinting up the path. "You guys can't have gone that far."

Josh sighed and began to walk forward in a random direction. A rustling noise nearby made him jump and point his wand. He was surprised to see Winky the house-elf fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a most peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; it was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back.

"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward and labored to keep running. "People high - high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"

And she disappeared into the trees on the other side of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought the force that was restraining her.

Josh was about to go see what was wrong with here when another loud bang echoed from the edge of the woods. He looked around, hoping his friends were okay, and hoped nothing happened to them, especially Hermione.

Josh followed the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for Fred, George, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, or even Ron. He passed a group of goblins who were cackling over a sack of gold that they had undoubtedly won betting on the match, and who seemed quite unperturbed by the trouble at the campsite. Josh sighed and pass a large tree, when someone from behind the tree ran into him, something heavy hitting him right in the nose.

"Ah! What the bloody hell!?" Josh screeched as what he ran into fell to the ground with a thud.

"Watch where the bloody hell you're going," spoke a feminine voice that sounded familiar to Josh. He raised his lit wand to see that he had ran into Daphne who was now on the ground searching for her wand, which was right there in front of her. She grabbed it, lit it, and pointed to Josh who was holding his nose that was now bleeding. "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah, me," Josh said. "Thanks for the bleeding nose by the way, its just what I needed."

"Your welcome," Daphne said, then noticed he was alone. "Where's your entourage?"

"I don't know, I lost them," Josh answered, wiping his nose. "What about you. Where's Tracey? And your parents?"

"We got separated," Daphne answered.

"Oh, well that sucks," Josh said in a non-caring tone, since his nose was bleeding thanks to Daphne. "Good luck finding them," he added, then began to walk away.

"Wait," Daphne said, following Josh. "Shouldn't we stick together?"

"Why?" Josh said, wiping his nose again.

"Because we both lost our friends and/or family, and together we could help each other out just in case something were to happen," Daphne explained, walking next Josh.

"I thought you were mad at me?" Josh stated, looking at Daphne.

"I was, I mean, I am," Daphne assured. "But i decided, that since we may be in a life or death situation, that I should put my anger aside, and help each other."

"I don't need help," Josh said stubbornly.

"You're such a stubborn arse," Daphne growled, crossing her arms. "I don't see why I even l - " and she stopped.

"Even what?" Josh asked curiously.

"Nothing. Hey, Look!" She said, pointing over to a patch of silvery light.

As they moved closer, they looked through the trees, and saw three tall and beautiful veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all of whom were talking very loudly.

"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!" one of them shouted. "I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."

"No, you're not!" yelled his friend. "You're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron… but I'm a vampire hunter, I've killed about ninety so far -"

A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible even by the dim, silvery light of the veela, now cut in, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, I am."

Daphne snorted with laughter. She recognised the pimply wizard as Stan Shunpike, and he was in fact a conductor on the triple-decker Knight Bus. Daphne turned to tell Josh this, but slowly turned towards him to see if he was under the effects of the veela. She lifted her lit wand up to his face to get a clearer view only to see his face squint in the light.

"Oi! What the blood hell are you doing?" Josh asked, ducking away from the bright light. "Trying to blind me?"

"Sorry," Daphne apologized. "I was trying to see if you were under the effects of the veela."

"It doesn't wok on me," Josh replied.

"Why?"

"I don't know, if it would, why would you even care?"

"I don't," Daphne said, turning away from Josh. "I was just curious," she murmured, and the two walked away. After minutes of walking, things semmed to get quiter, and they two seemed to be all alone.

Josh looked around. "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."

The words were hardly out of his mouth, when Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of them.

Even by the feeble light of the two wands, Josh could see that a great change had come over Bagman. He no longer looked buoyant and rosy-faced; there was no more spring in his step. He looked very white and strained.

"Who's that?" he said, blinking down at them, trying to make out their faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"

Josh and Daphne glanced at one another, surprised.

"Well - there's a sort of riot going on," said Josh.

Bagman stared at him. "What?"

"At the campsite… some people have got hold of a family of Muggles…"

Bagman swore loudly. "Damn them!" he said, looking quite distracted, and without another word, he Disapparated with a small pop!

"Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?" said Daphne, frowning.

"He was a supposed great Beater," said Josh, leading the way off the path into a small clearing, and sitting down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of a tree. "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row while he was with them." Daphne walked over and sat down next to Josh.

Josh strained his ears to see if he could hear anything from the campsite. Everything seemed much quieter; perhaps the riot was over.

"I hope my parents and Tracey are okay," Daphne said after a while.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," said Josh, looking up. Something Nott said was getting to him, something about a cousin he should hang out and get to know better, but he would only suspect Malfoy who was the only other person there. Could he be related to Black?

"Daphne, what do you know about the Blacks?" he asked.

"Oh, my dad told me they were Dark Witches and Wizards," Daphne answered. "A very wealthy family, and they did have a lot a political power, but not anymore, since the all nearly died out, and only one remains."

"Two," Josh corrected.

"Oh, right," Daphne said. "Only two left." Josh nodded. "So, you're really a pureblood, then."

"Yeah," Josh said. "A pureblood. Mix between Emrys and Black. You know, I actually like Black. Way more better than Anderson," he added, the mumbled, "Filthy muggle." But Daphne heard him, and wondered why he said that, but something else also came to mind.

"Those poor Muggles, though," Daphne said. "What if they can't get them down?"

"Oh well," Josh said, blankly. "Sucks I guess."

"What do you mean it sucks?" Daphne replied. "Don't you mean they'll find a way to be put back down?"

"Not really," Josh said, looking away.

Daphne sighed. "They're mad, though, to do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic's out here tonight! I mean, how do they expect to get away with it? Do you think they've been drinking, or are they just -"

But she broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Josh looked quickly around too. It sounded as though someone was staggering toward their clearing. They waited, listening to the sounds of the uneven steps behind the dark trees. But the footsteps came to a sudden halt.

"Hello?" Josh called.

There was silence. Josh got to his feet and peered around the tree. It was too dark to see very far, but he could sense somebody standing just beyond the range of his vision.

"Who's there?" he said. "Show yourself."

And then, without warning, the silence was rent by a voice unlike any they had heard in the woods; and it uttered, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell.

"_MORSMORDRE_!"

And something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Josh's eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops and into the sky.

"What the -?" gasped Daphne as she sprang to her feet, staring up at the thing that had appeared.

For a split second, Josh thought it was another leprechaun formation. Then he realized that it was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation. Josh stared at the image, not knowing what it was, but he had a sinking feeling.

Suddenly, the woods all around them erupted with screams. Josh didn't understand why, but the only possible cause was the sudden appearance of the skull, which had now risen high enough to illuminate the entire woods like some grisly neon sign. He scanned the darkness for the person who had conjured the skull, but he couldn't see anyone.

"Who's there?" he called again.

" - come on, move!"

Josh heard, as he moved Daphne behind him.

"What's the matter?" Josh heard from a distance.

"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Josh heard a girl voice moan. "Voldemort's sign!"

"Voldemort's - "

"Harry, come on!"

And a minute later, Harry, Hermione, and Ron came into view running into Josh and Daphne. "Oi! watch where yer going!?" Ron growled as they all stood up to their feet and noticed Josh and Daphne.

"Joshua!" Hermione yelped, jumping over to him and hugged him tightly. "We thought something happened to you. We were so worried."

"Speak for yourself," Ron said, glancing at Daphne.

"Where were you?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, _Black,"_ Ron said. "Something you want to tell us?"

"No, not really," Josh replied, noticing how Ron spoke his surname.

"Come on guys, let's move," Harry spoke up, and they all nodded.

The five of them started across the clearing - but before they had taken a few hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding them.

Harry and Josh whirled around, and in an instant, they registered one fact: Each of these wizards had his wand out, and every wand was pointing right at themselves, Ron, Daphne, and Hermione.

Without pausing to think, Harry yelled, "DUCK!"

Harry seized Ron, Josh grabbed both Hermione and Daphne and pulled them down onto the ground.

"_STUPEFY_!" roared twenty voices - there was a blinding series of flashes and Josh felt the hair on his head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing. Raising his head a fraction of an inch, he saw jets of fiery red light flying over them from the wizards' wands, crossing one another, bouncing off tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness—

"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognised. "STOP! That's my son!"

Josh raised his head a little higher. The wizard in front of him had lowered his wand. He rolled over and saw Mr. Weasley striding toward them, looking terrified.

"Ron - Harry," - his voice sounded shaky. "Hermione - Joshua - are you all right?"

"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice.

It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Josh got to their feet to face them. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.

"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.

"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping - he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woollen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to." Ron quickly glanced at Josh who noticed.

"Where did the Mark come from, you four?" said Mr. Weasley quickly.

"Over there," said Hermione shakily, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees… they shouted words – an incantation -"

"Oh, stood over there, did they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on Hermione now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy -"

But none of the Ministry wizards apart from Mr. Crouch seemed to think it remotely likely that Harry, Ron, Josh, Daphne, or Hermione had conjured the skull; on the contrary, at Hermione's words, they had all raised their wands again and were pointing in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees.

"We're too late," said the witch in the woollen dressing gown, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."

"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through those trees…there's a good chance we got them…"

"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. Sophie watched him vanish with her hands over her mouth. A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout.

"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's - but - blimey..."

"You've got someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?" Josh glanced over at Daphne who was right behind him, holding onto his arm.

They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory re-emerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. Josh recognised the tea towel at once. It was Winky.

Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory deposited his elf on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry wizards were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a few seconds Crouch remained transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky. Then he appeared to come to life again.

"This - cannot - be," he said jerkily. "No -"

He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky.

"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there."

But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching.

"Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said grimly, looking down at Winky's unconscious form. "Barty Crouch's house-elf… I mean to say…"

"Come off it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."

"Yeah," said Mr. Diggory. "And she had a wand."

"What?" said Mr. Weasley.

"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."

Just then there was another pop, and Ludo Bagman Apparated right next to Mr. Weasley. Looking breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, goggling upward at the emerald-green skull.

"The Dark Mark!" he panted, almost trampling Winky as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"

Mr. Crouch had returned empty-handed. His face was still ghostly white, and his hands and his toothbrush mustache were both twitching.

"Where have you been, Barty?" said Bagman. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too - gulping gargoyles!" Bagman had just noticed Winky lying at his feet. "What happened to her?"

"I have been busy, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still talking in the same jerky fashion, barely moving his lips. "And my elf has been stunned."

"Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why -?"

Comprehension dawned suddenly on Bagman's round, shiny face; he looked up at the skull, down at Winky, and then at Mr. Crouch.

"No!" he said. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"

"And she had one," said Mr. Diggory. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."

Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, but Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky, and said, "_Ennervate_!"

Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked several times in a bemused sort of way. Watched by the silent wizards, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position.

She caught sight of Mr. Diggory's feet, and slowly, tremulously, raised her eyes to stare up into his face; then, more slowly still, she looked up into the sky. She gave a gasp, looked wildly around the crowded clearing, and burst into terrified sobs.

"Elf!" said Mr. Diggory sternly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"

Winky began to rock backward and forward on the ground, her breath coming in sharp bursts.

"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," said Mr. Diggory. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"

"I - I - I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"

"You were found with a wand in your hand!" barked Mr. Diggory, brandishing it in front of her. And as the wand caught the green light that was filling the clearing from the skull above, Josh recognised it as Harry's.

"Hey - that's mine!" Harry said.

Everyone in the clearing looked at him.

"Excuse me?" said Mr. Diggory, incredulously.

"That's my wand!" said Harry. "I dropped it!"

"You dropped it?" repeated Mr. Diggory in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"

"Amos, think who you're talking to!" said Mr. Weasley, very angrily. "Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"

"Er - of course not," mumbled Mr. Diggory. "Sorry… carried away…"

"I didn't drop it there, anyway," said Harry, jerking his thumb toward the trees beneath the skull. "I missed it right after we got into the woods."

"So," said Mr. Diggory, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Winky again, cowering at his feet. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"

"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" squealed Winky, tears streaming down the sides of her squashed and bulbous nose. "I is… I is… I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"

"It wasn't her!" said Hermione. She looked very nervous, speaking up in front of all these Ministry wizards, yet determined all the same. "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" She looked around at Harry and Ron, appealing for their support.

"She's right," Josh spoke up, earning a look from Ron and Daphne, but for different reasons. "I heard a deeper and manlier voice."

"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."

"Yeah, it was a human voice," said Ron, glancing at Josh.

"Well, we'll soon see," growled Mr. Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"

Winky trembled and shook her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand again and placed it tip to tip with Harry's.

"_Prior Incantato_!" roared Mr. Diggory.

Josh heard Hermione gasp, horrified, as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick gray smoke: the ghost of a spell.

"_Deletrius_!" Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoky skull vanished in a wisp of smoke.

"So," said Mr. Diggory with a kind of savage triumph, looking down upon Winky, who was still shaking convulsively.

"I is not doing it!" she squealed, her eyes rolling in terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"

"You've been caught red-handed, elf!" Mr. Diggory roared. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"

"Amos," said Mr. Weasley loudly, "think about it… precious few wizards know how to do that spell… Where would she have learned it?"

"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," said Mr. Crouch, cold anger in every syllable, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"

There was a deeply unpleasant silence. Amos Diggory looked horrified. "Mr. Crouch… not… not at all."

"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" barked Mr. Crouch. "Harry Potter – and myself. I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"

"Of course - everyone knows -" muttered Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted.

"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted, his eyes bulging again.

"Mr. Crouch, I - I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Amos Diggory muttered again, now reddening behind his scrubby brown beard.

"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!" shouted Mr. Crouch. "Where else would she have learned to conjure it?"

"She - she might've picked it up anywhere -"

"Precisely, Amos," said Mr. Weasley. "She might have picked it up anywhere… Winky?" he said kindly, turning to the elf, but she flinched as though he too was shouting at her. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"

Winky was twisting the hem of her tea towel so violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers.

"I - I is finding it… finding it there, sir…" she whispered, "there… in the trees, sir."

"You see, Amos?" said Mr. Weasley. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."

"But then, she'd have been only a few feet away from the real culprit!" said Mr. Diggory impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"

Winky began to tremble worse than ever. Her giant eyes flickered from Mr. Diggory, to Ludo Bagman, and onto Mr. Crouch. Then she gulped and said, "I is seeing no one, sir… no one…"

"Amos," said Mr. Crouch curtly, "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."

Mr. Diggory looked as though he didn't think much of this suggestion at all, but it was clear to Josh that Mr. Crouch was such an important member of the Ministry that he did not dare refuse him.

"You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added coldly.

"M-m-master…" Winky stammered, looking up at Mr. Crouch, her eyes brimming with tears. "M-m-master, p-p-please…"

Mr. Crouch stared back, his face somehow sharpened, each line upon it more deeply etched. There was no pity in his gaze.

"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible," he said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. _This means clothes_."

"No!" shrieked Winky, prostrating herself at Mr. Crouch's feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"

Josh knew that the only way to turn a house-elf free was to present it with proper garments. It was pitiful to see the way Winky clutched at her tea towel as she sobbed over Mr. Crouch's feet.

"But she was frightened!" Hermione burst out angrily, glaring at Mr. Crouch. "Your elf's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"

Mr. Crouch took a step backward, freeing himself from contact with the elf, whom he was surveying as though she were something filthy and rotten that was contaminating his over-shined shoes.

"I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said coldly, looking over at Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."

Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed around the clearing. There was a very nasty silence, which was ended by Mr. Weasley, who said quietly, "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent, if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can - if Harry could have it back, please -"

Mr. Diggory handed Harry his wand and Harry pocketed it.

"Come on, you lot," Mr. Weasley said quietly. But Hermione didn't seem to want to move; her eyes were still upon the sobbing elf. "Hermione!" Mr. Weasley said, more urgently. Josh grabbed Hermione's hand, and she turned and followed Josh, Daphne, Harry, and Ron out of the clearing and off through the trees.

"What's going to happen to Winky?" said Hermione, the moment they had left the clearing.

"I don't know," said Mr. Weasley.

"The way they were treating her!" said Hermione furiously. "Mr. Diggory, calling her 'elf' all the time… and Mr. Crouch! He knows she didn't do it and he's still going to sack her! He didn't care how frightened she'd been, or how upset she was - it was like she wasn't even human!"

"Well, she's not," said Ron.

Hermione rounded on him. "That doesn't mean she hasn't got feelings, Ron. It's disgusting the way -"

"Hermione, I agree with you," said Mr. Weasley quickly, beckoning her on, "but now is not the time to discuss elf rights. I want to get back to the tent as fast as we can. What happened to the others?"

"We lost them in the dark," said Ron. "Dad, why was everyone so uptight about that skull thing?"

"I'll explain everything back at the tent," said Mr. Weasley tensely.

But when they reached the edge of the woods, their progress was impeded. A large crowd of frightened-looking witches and wizards was congregated there, and when they saw Mr. Weasley coming toward them, many of them surged forward.

"What's going on in there?"

"Who conjured it?"

"Arthur - it's not - Him?"

"Of course it's not Him," said Mr. Weasley impatiently. "We don't know who it was; it looks like they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, I want to get to bed."

He led Harry, Ron, Josh, Daphne, and Hermione through the crowd and back into the campsite. All was quiet now; there was no sign of the masked wizards, though several ruined tents were still smoking. Charlie's head was poking out of the boys' tent.

"Dad, what's going on?" he called through the dark. "Fred, George, and Ginny got back okay, but the others -"

"I've got them here," said Mr. Weasley, bending down and entering the tent. Harry, Ron, Josh, Daphne, and Hermione entered after him.

Bill was sitting at the small kitchen table, holding a bedsheet to his arm, which was bleeding profusely. Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, and Percy was sporting a bloody nose. Fred, George, and Ginny looked unhurt, though shaken.

"Did you get them, Dad?" said Bill sharply. "The person who conjured the Mark?"

"No," said Mr. Weasley. "We found Barry Crouch's elf holding Harry's wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark."

"What?" said Bill, Charlie, and Percy together.

"Harry's wand?" said Fred.

"Mr. Crouch's elf" said Percy, sounding thunderstruck.

With some assistance from Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione, Mr. Weasley explained what had happened in the woods, while Daphne sat next to Josh, visibly feeling uncomfortable about being there. When they had finished their story, Percy swelled indignantly.

"Well, Mr. Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" he said. "Running away when he'd expressly told her not to… embarrassing him in front of the whole Ministry… how would that have looked, if she'd been brought up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control"

"She didn't do anything - she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Hermione snapped at Percy, who looked very taken aback.

"Hermione, a wizard in Mr. Crouch's position can't afford a house-elf who's going to run amok with a wand!" said Percy pompously, recovering himself.

"She didn't run amok!" shouted Hermione. "She just picked it up off the ground!"

"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was?" said Ron impatiently. "It wasn't hurting anyone… Why's it such a big deal?"

"I told you, it's youn-know-who's symbol, Ron," said Hermione, before anyone else could answer. "I read about it in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts."

"And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "Of course people panicked… it was almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."

"I don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean… it's still only a shape in the sky…"

"Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed," said Mr. Weasley. "The terror it inspired… you have no idea, you're too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside…" Mr. Weasley winced. "Everyone's worst fear… the very worst."

There was silence for a moment. Then Bill, removing the sheet from his arm to check on his cut, said, "Well, it didn't help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them. We caught the Robertses before they hit the ground, though. They're having their memories modified right now."

"Death Eaters?" said Harry. "What are Death Eaters?"

"It's what You-Know-Who's supporters called themselves," said Bill. "I think we saw what's left of them tonight - the ones who managed to keep themselves out of Azkaban, anyway."

"We can't prove it was them, Bill," said Mr. Weasley. "Though it probably was," he added hopelessly.

"Yeah, I bet it was!" said Ron suddenly. "Dad, we met Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott in the woods, and they as good as told us Malfoy's dad was one of those nutters in masks! And we all know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!"

"But what were Voldemort's supporters -" Harry began. Everybody but Josh, flinched – like most of the wizarding world, the Weasleys always avoided saying Voldemort's name. "Sorry," said Harry quickly. "What were You-Know-Who's supporters up to, levitating Muggles? I mean, what was the point?"

"The point?" said Mr. Weasley with a hollow laugh. "Harry, that's their idea of fun. Half the Muggle killings back when You-Know-Who was in power were done for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks tonight and couldn't resist reminding us all that lots of them are still at large. A nice little reunion for them," he finished disgustedly.

"But if they were the Death Eaters, why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" said Ron. "They'd have been pleased to see it, wouldn't they?"

"Use your brains, Ron," said Bill. "If they really were Death Eaters, they worked very hard to keep out of Azkaban when You-Know-Who lost power, and told all sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture people. I bet they'd be even more frightened than the rest of us to see him come denied they'd ever been involved with him when he lost his powers, and went back to their daily lives… I don't reckon he'd be over-pleased with them, do you?"

"So… whoever conjured the Dark Mark…" said Hermione slowly, "were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?"

"Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione," said Mr. Weasley. "But I'll tell you this… it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I'd be very surprised if the person who did it hadn't been a Death Eater once, even if they're not now…" And at that Josh saw Ron look at him once more. "Listen, it's very late, and if your mother hears what's happened she'll be worried sick. We'll get a few more hours sleep and then try and get an early Portkey out of here."

Josh watched as everyone moved to their respected beds. He then took Daphne's hand and led her out of the tent and back into the night.

"You think your parents and Tracey are still here?" he asked.

Daphne shrugged, "I don't know, but there's only one way to find out," she said.

"Ok, well," Josh started moving back to the entrance of the tent. "See you at Hogwarts then," he said, with a smile.

Daphne smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you at Hogwarts," she said, and then left hugging and smiling to herself. Josh smiled to himself and entered the tent for bed. His friendship with Daphne wasn't over, it was just the beginning.

**A/N: Boom! 3 chaps, 1 nizzight! Man, i hope you guys are liking my story. Can't wait to get to that one spot!**


	9. Ministry Mayhem

Chapter 9: Ministry Mayhem

Mr. Weasley woke them after only a few hours sleep. He used magic to pack up the tents, and they left the campsite as quickly as possible, passing Mr. Roberts at the door of his cottage. Mr. Roberts had a strange, dazed look about him, and he waved them off with a vague "Happy Christmas."

"He'll be all right," said Mr. Weasley quietly as they marched off onto the moor. "Sometimes, when a person's memory's modified, it makes him a bit disorientated for a while… and that was a big thing they had to make him forget."

They heard urgent voices as they approached the spot where the Portkeys lay, and when they reached it, they found a great number of witches and wizards gathered around Basil, the keeper of the Portkeys, all clamouring to get away from the campsite as quickly as possible. Mr. Weasley had a hurried discussion with Basil; they joined the queue, and were able to take an old rubber tyre back to Stoatshead Hill before the sun had really risen. They walked back through Ottery St. Catchpole and up the damp lane toward the Burrow in the dawn light, talking very little because they were so exhausted, and thinking longingly of their breakfast. As they rounded the corner and the Burrow came into view, a cry echoed along the lane.

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"

Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front yard, came running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers, her face pale and strained, a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet clutched in her hand.

"Arthur - I've been so worried - so worried-"

She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck, and the Daily Prophet fell out of her limp hand onto the ground. Looking down, Josh saw the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, complete with a twinkling black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark over the treetops.

"You're all right," Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, releasing Mr. Weasley and staring around at them all with red eyes, "you're alive… Oh boys…" And to everybody's surprise, she seized Fred and George and pulled them both into such a tight hug that their heads banged together.

"Ouch! Mum - you're strangling us -"

"Mum - can't breathe -"

"I shouted at you two before you left!" Mrs. Weasley said, starting to sob. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough OW.L.s? Oh Fred… George..."

"Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay," said Mr. Weasley soothingly, prising her off the twins and leading her back toward the house. "Bill," he added in an undertone, "pick up that paper, I want to see what it says…"

When they were all crammed into the tiny kitchen, and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very strong tea, into which Mr. Weasley insisted on pouring a shot of Ogdens Old Firewhiskey, Bill handed his father the newspaper. Mr. Weasley scanned the front page while Percy looked over his shoulder.

"I knew it," said Mr. Weasley heavily. "Ministry blunders… culprits not apprehended… lax security… Dark wizards running unchecked… national disgrace… Who wrote this? Ah… of course… Rita Skeeter."

"That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" said Percy furiously. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires!"

"There are a million things more important than cauldron thickness," Ron muttered.

"As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans —"

"Do us a favour, Perce," said Bill, yawning, "and shut up."

"I'm mentioned," said Mr. Weasley, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he reached the bottom of the Daily Prophet article.

"Where?" spluttered Mrs. Weasley, choking on her tea and whiskey. "If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!"

"Not by name," said Mr. Weasley. "Listen to this: 'If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the woods expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen.' Oh really," said Mr. Weasley in exasperation, handing the paper to Percy. "Nobody was hurt. What was I supposed to say?"

Mr. Weasley heaved a deep sigh. "Molly, I'm going to have to go into the office; this is going to take some smoothing over."

"I'll come with you, Father," said Percy importantly. "Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person."

He bustled out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley looked most upset. "Arthur, you're supposed to be on holiday! This hasn't got anything to do with your office; surely they can handle this without you?"

"I've got to go, Molly," said Mr. Weasley. "I've made things worse. I'll just change into my robes and I'll be off…"

"Mrs. Weasley," said Harry suddenly, unable to contain himself, "Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has she?"

"Hedwig, dear?" said Mrs. Weasley distractedly. "No… no, there hasn't been any post at all."

Ron, Josh, and Hermione looked curiously at Harry, though Josh had an idea what Harry thought he be expecting. With a meaningful look at the three of them, he said, "All right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?"

"Yeah… think I will too," said Ron at once. "Hermione?"

"Yes," she said quickly. "Coming, Joshua?"

"Sure," Josh said with a nod and stood up. The four of them marched out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"What's up, Harry?" said Ron, the moment they had closed the door of the attic room behind them.

"There's something I haven't told you," Harry said. "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again."

Hermione gasped and started making suggestions at once, mentioning a number of reference books, and everybody from Albus Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. Ron simply looked dumbstruck while Josh looked blankly though curiously, sitting against the wall.

"But - he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean - last time your scars kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?"

"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive," said Harry. "But we were dreaming about him… him and Peter - you know, Wormtail. I can't remember all of it now - but they were plotting to kill… someone."

"It was probably only a dream," said Ron bracingly. "Just a nightmare."

"Yeah, but was it, though?" said Harry, turning to look out of the window at the brightening sky. "It's weird, isn't it…? My scar hurt, and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort's sign's up in the sky again."

"Don't - say - his - name!" Ron hissed through gritted teeth.

"Would you stop being such a wimp," Josh said. "It's just a stupid name!"

"Oh, Shut up, _Black_," Ron snarled while Josh glared at him. He was about to retort, but Harry spoke.

"And remember what Professor Trelawney said?" Harry added, ignoring Ron and Josh. "At the end of last year?"

Professor Trelawney was their Divination teacher at Hogwarts. Hermione's terrified look vanished as she let out a derisive snort.

"Oh Harry, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says?"

"You weren't there," said Harry. "You didn't hear her. Yeah, I told you, she went into a trance - a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again… greater and more terrible than ever before… and he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him… and that night Wormtail escaped."

There was a silence in which Ron fidgeted absentmindedly with a hole in his Chudley Cannons bedspread.

"Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Are you expecting a letter?"

"I told Sirius about my scar," said Harry, shrugging. "I'm waiting for his answer."

"Good thinking!" said Ron, his expression clearing. "I bet Sirius'll know what to do!"

"I hoped he'd get back to me quickly," said Harry.

"But we don't know where Sirius is… he could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he?" said Hermione reasonably. "Hedwig's not going to manage that journey in a few days."

"Yeah, I know," said Harry.

"It'll be fine, Potter," Josh spoke, crossing his arms. "We all know that Sirius is on the run. He's most likely waiting for the right moment to send a reply so it doesn't look suspicious." Harry nodded in understanding and continued to look out the window.

"Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Harry," said Ron quickly. "Come on - three on three, Bill and Charlie and Fred and George will play…"

"Ron," said Hermione, in an I-don't-think-you're-being-very-sensitive sort of voice, as Josh noticed he wasn't invited. "Harry doesn't want to play Quidditch right now…he's worried, and he's tired…we all need to go to bed…"

"Yeah, I want to play Quidditch," said Harry suddenly. "Hang on, I'll get my Firebolt."

Hermione left the room, muttering something that sounded very much like "Boys." Harry and Ron left a few seconds later with Harry's firebolt.

Josh sat there, alone in Ron's rooms. "What the bloody hell?" he said as he stood up. "When did I become invisible?" he said to himself, leaving Ron's room. "I like playing Quidditch too."

"Joshua, you have a letter!" shouted Mrs. Weasley's voice from the bottom of the stairs. Josh quickly ran down the stairs to retrieve his letter from Mrs. Weasley.

Josh sat down at the table in the kitchen and opened the letter and began to read the letter:

_Dear Joshua,_

_Are you alright? I heard about the Quidditch World Cup in the Daily Prophet and I sent this letter as soon as I could. I know it is a really big risk, but you're my son and I was really worried. I hope you are okay and if you are, please send me a letter saying that you are okay. And tell Harry that his letter is on its way,_

_with Love, Padfoot_

"Who's Padfoot?" asked someone from behind Josh, causing him to jump and quickly fold the letter. He turned to see Ginny standing there, over his shoulder.

"Oh, uh Padfoot is my...house elf?" Josh finished lamely, knowing that really sounded stupid but relieved that that was what Ginny only saw.

"And your house elf loves you?" Ginny asked, unconvinced, sitting down next to Josh.

"Um, yeah, he's part of the family," Josh continued to lie, and pocketed his letter.

"Who's part of the family?" Hermione asked, entering the kitchen, and then sat in front of Josh.

"Josh's House elf," Ginny answered, as Hermione began to look appalled.

"You have a House Elf? Since when?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Josh looked at Hermione, not really knowing what to say. "I..."

"And what is this poor house elf's name?" Hermione asked.

"His name is Padfoot," Ginny answered for Josh who turned to Hermione as her eyes widened. "Yeah, strange name right? That's a name you'd name a dog. How does a house elf get that name?"

"What did he say?" Hermione blurted out, throwing her arms on the table.

"Oh, you know, just wanted to know if I was okay is all," Josh spoke, standing to his feet. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to write him back." And he left to write a letter to Sirius. Hermione watched as Josh left the room, and turned back to find Ginny looking back at her with a smirk.

"What?"

* * *

Neither Mr. Weasley nor Percy was at home much over the following week. Both left the house each morning before the rest of the family got up, and returned well after dinner every night.

"It's been an absolute uproar," Percy told them importantly the Sunday evening before they were due to return to Hogwarts. "I've been putting out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders."

"Why are they all sending Howlers?" asked Ginny, who was mending her copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi with Spellotape on the rug in front of the living room fire.

"Complaining about security at the World Cup," said Percy. "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks."

Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. Josh liked this clock. It was completely useless if you wanted to know the time, but otherwise very informative. It had nine golden hands, and each of them was engraved with one of the Weasley family's names.

There were no numerals around the face, but descriptions of where each family member might be. "Home," "school," and "work" were there, but there was also "travelling," "lost," "hospital," "prison," and, in the position where the number twelve would be on a normal clock, "mortal peril."

Eight of the hands were currently pointing to the "home" position, but Mr. Weasley's, which was the longest, was still pointing to "work." Mrs. Weasley sighed.

"Your father hasn't had to go into the office on weekends since the days of You- Know-Who," she said. "They're working him far too hard. His dinner's going to be ruined if he doesn't come home soon."

"Well, Father feels he's got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesn't he?" said Percy. "If truth be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing it with his Head of Department first -"

"Don't you dare blame your father for what that wretched Skeeter woman wrote!" said Mrs. Weasley, flaring up at once.

"If Dad hadn't said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented," said Bill, who was playing chess with Ron. "Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts' Charm Breakers once, and called me 'a long-haired pillock'?"

"Well, it is a bit long, dear," said Mrs. Weasley gently. "If you'd just let me -"

"_No_, Mum."

Rain lashed against the living room window. Hermione was immersed in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, copies of which Mrs. Weasley had bought for her, Harry, Josh, and Ron in Diagon Alley. Josh sat next to her, trying to read with her, but he was too slow, never able to finish reading a page as Hermione turned the pages.

Charlie was darning a fireproof balaclava. Harry was polishing his Firebolt, the broomstick servicing kit Hermione had given him for his thirteenth birthday open at his feet. Fred and George were sitting in a far corner, quills out, talking in whispers, their heads bent over a piece of parchment.

"What are you two up to?" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, her eyes on the twins.

"Homework," said Fred vaguely.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Yeah, we've left it a bit late," George said.

"You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?" said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly. "You wouldn't be thinking of restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?"

"Now, Mum," said Fred, looking up at her, a pained look on his face. "If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"

Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh your father's coming!" she said suddenly, looking up at the clock again.

Mr. Weasley's hand had suddenly spun from "work" to "travelling"; a second later it had shuddered to a halt on "home" with the others, and they heard him calling from the kitchen.

"Coming, Arthur!" called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying out of the room. A few moments later, Mr. Weasley came into the warm living room carrying his dinner on a tray. He looked completely exhausted.

"Well, the fat's really in the fire now," he told Mrs. Weasley as he sat down in an armchair near the hearth and toyed unenthusiastically with his somewhat shriveled cauliflower. "Rita Skeeter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups to report. And now she's found out about poor old Bertha going missing, so that'll be the headline in the Prophet tomorrow. I told Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago."

"Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks," said Percy swiftly.

"Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky," said Mr. Weasley irritably. "There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark."

"I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark?" said Percy hotly.

"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves!" said Hermione angrily.

"Now look here, Hermione!" said Percy. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants -"

"His slave, you mean!" said Hermione, her voice rising passionately, "because he didn't pay Winky, did he?"

"I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!" said Mrs. Weasley, breaking up the argument. "Come on now, all of you…"

Josh followed all his friends up the stairs and entered the room he was staying in. The rain sounded even louder accompanied by loud whistlings and moans from the wind. Shadow was in his cage watching as Josh moved around the toom.

"Hey, Shadow," Josh said, moving over his Owl and giving him some owl treats. Josh moved to his bed where the stuff Mrs. Weasley had gotten him in Diagon Alley laid. There was also some clean socks and under, and a small bag of coins from his vault.

Josh heaved his trunk onto his bed, next to his parcels and stuff. He started unwrapping the shopping, apart from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, b Miranda Goshawk, he had a handful of new quills, a dozen rolls of parchment, and refills for his potion-making kit - he had been running low on some spine of lionfish and essence of belladonna. Josh opened up the last parcel which happened to be dress robes.

"Dress robes?" Josh said to himself. "What would I need these for?"


	10. Hogwarts Express

Chapter 10: Hogwarts Express

There was a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom in the air when Josh awoke next morning. Heavy rain was still splattering against the window as he got dressed in jeans and a sweater; they would change into their school robes on the Hogwarts Express.

Him, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George had just reached the staircase on their way down to breakfast, when Mrs. Weasley appeared at the foot of the stairs, looking harassed.

"Arthur!" she called up the staircase. "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!"

Josh flattened herself against the wall as Mr. Weasley came clattering past with his robes on back-to-front and hurtled out of sight. When Josh and the others entered the kitchen, they saw Mrs. Weasley rummaging anxiously in the drawers –

"I've got a quill here somewhere!" - and Mr. Weasley bending over the fire, talking to a familiar face Josh had met at the World Cup.

Amos Diggory's head was sitting in the middle of the flames like a large, bearded egg. It was talking very fast, completely unperturbed by the sparks flying around it and the flames licking its ears.

"… Muggle neighbours heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-'ems - please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there —"

"Here!" said Mrs. Weasley breathlessly, pushing a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a crumpled quill into Mr. Weasley's hands.

"- it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it," said Mr. Diggory's head. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off — if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur —"

"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" asked Mr. Weasley, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading up his quill, and preparing to take notes.

Mr. Diggory's head rolled its eyes. "Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins."

"What did the dustbins do?" asked Mr. Weasley, scribbling frantically.

"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," said Mr. Diggory. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the pleasemen turned up -"

Mr. Weasley groaned. "And what about the intruder?"

"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," said Mr. Diggory's head, rolling its eyes again. "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it — think of his record — we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department — what are exploding dustbins worth?"

"Might be a caution," said Mr. Weasley, still writing very fast, his brow furrowed. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"

"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window," said Mr. Diggory, "but they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties."

"All right, I'm off," Mr. Weasley said, and he stuffed the parchment with his notes on it into his pocket and dashed out of the kitchen again.

Mr. Diggory's head looked around at Mrs. Weasley.

"Sorry about this, Molly," it said, more calmly, "bothering you so early and everything… but Arthur's the only one who can get Mad-Eye off, and Mad-Eye's supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he had to choose last night…"

"Never mind, Amos," said Mrs. Weasley. "Sure you won't have a bit of toast or anything before you go?"

"Oh go on, then," said Mr. Diggory.

Mrs. Weasley took a piece of buttered toast from a stack on the kitchen table, put it into the fire tongs, and transferred it into Mr. Diggory's mouth. "Fanks," he said in a muffled voice, and then, with a small pop, vanished.

Josh could hear Mr. Weasley calling hurried good-byes to Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the girls. Within five minutes, he was back in the kitchen, his robes on the right way now, dragging a comb through his hair.

"I'd better hurry - you have a good term, boys," said Mr. Weasley to Harry, Ron, Josh, Fred, and George, fastening a cloak over his shoulders and preparing to Disapparate. "Molly, are you going to be all right taking the kids to King's Cross?"

"Of course I will," she said. "You just look after Mad-Eye, we'll be fine."

As Mr. Weasley vanished, Bill and Charlie entered the kitchen.

"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What's he been up to now."

"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his toast. "Isn't he that nutter -"

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.

"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather…"

"Moody was a great wizard in his time," said Bill.

"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" said Charlie.

"Dumbledore's not what you'd call _normal_, though, is he?" Fred said. "I mean, I know he's a genius and everything…"

"Who is Mad-Eye?" Josh and Harry asked at the same time.

"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry," said Charlie. "I met him once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror - one of the best… a Dark wizard catcher," he added, seeing Harry's blank look. "Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though… the families of people he caught, mainly… and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere."

"Paranoid much," Josh snorted, earning a couple of smirks from the Weasley twins.

Bill and Charlie decided to come and see everyone off at King's Cross station, but Percy, apologising most profusely, said that he really needed to get to work.

"I just can't justify taking more time off at the moment," he told them. "Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me."

Mrs. Weasley had braved the telephone in the village post office to order three ordinary Muggle taxis to take them into London.

"Arthur tried to borrow Ministry cars for us," Mrs. Weasley whispered to Harry and Josh as they stood in the rain-washed yard, watching the taxi drivers heaving eight heavy Hogwarts trunks into their cars. "But there weren't any to spare… Oh dear, they don't look happy, do they?"

Neither Harry, Josh, nor Hermione liked to tell Mrs. Weasley that Muggle taxi drivers rarely transported overexcited owls, and Pigwidgeon was making an earsplitting racket. Nor did it help that a number of Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks went off unexpectedly when Fred's trunk sprang open, causing the driver carrying it to yell with fright and pain as Crookshanks clawed his way up the man's leg.

The journey was uncomfortable, owing to the fact that they were jammed in the back of the taxis with their trunks. Crookshanks took quite a while to recover from the fireworks, and by the time they entered London, Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione were all severely scratched. They were very relieved to get out at King's Cross, even though the rain was coming down harder than ever, and they got soaked carrying their trunks across the busy road and into the station.

Josh was used to getting onto platform nine and three-quarters by now. It was a simple matter of walking straight through the apparently solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten.

The only tricky part was doing this in an unobtrusive way, so as to avoid attracting Muggle attention. They did it in groups today; Harry, Ron, and Hermione (the most conspicuous, since they were accompanied by Pigwidgeon and Crookshanks) went first; they leaned casually against the barrier, chatting unconcernedly, and slid sideways through it… and as they did so, platform nine and three-quarters materialised in front of them, then Fred, George and Josh follwed with Bill, Charlie, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley coming in last.

The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts. Pigwidgeon became noisier than ever in response to the hooting of many owls through the mist. Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione set off to find seats, and were soon stowing their luggage in a compartment halfway along the train, except for Josh who threw his stuff in an neighboring compartment. They then hopped back down onto the platform to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie.

"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye.

"Why?" said Fred keenly.

"You'll see," said Charlie. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it… it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."

"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.

"Why?" said George impatiently.

"You're going to have an interesting year," said Bill, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it."

"A bit of what?" Josh asked.

But at that moment, the whistle blew, and Mrs. Weasley chivvied them toward the train doors.

"Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, and leaned out of the window to talk to her.

"Thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Josh said.

"Oh it was my pleasure, dears," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but… well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with… one thing and another."

"Mum!" said Ron irritably. "What d'you three know that we don't?"

"You'll find out this evening, I expect," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "It's going to be very exciting - mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules -"

"What rules?" Harry, Ron, Josh, Fred, and George all said together.

"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you… Now, behave, won't you? Won't you, Fred? And you, George?"

The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to move.

"Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Fred bellowed out of the window as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie sped away from them. "What rules are they changing?"

But Mrs. Weasley only smiled and waved. Before the train had rounded the corner, she, Bill, and Charlie had Disapparated.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back to their compartment, and Josh went to his where he saw that he was the only one with his things inside.

Josh turned to look out the windwo which the thick rain splattering against them made it very difficult to see out of them. He turned his head forward yawning when the compartment door opened and in walked Blaise, dragging both his trunk and his owl.

"Hey," he greeted, hoisting his items onto the railings. "How was the World Cup?"

"Oh, you know," Josh started. "Irish won, muggles were spun in the air by Death Eaters, everyone freaked, Dark mark in the air. You know, the usual."

"Oh, yeah," Blaise said, taking a seat across from Josh. "I heard about that. That was some serious stuff, very frightening, I heard."

"A little," Josh said. "And you, what did you do the rest of the summer?"

"Nothing much," Blaise answered with a sigh. "Just hung around Diagon Alley, speaking to random girls."

"Ah, I see. And speaking of girls. I heard that you told Daphne about our little adventures over the summer including the top secret one where I found out that Sirius was my father. Why is that?" Josh asked, crossing his arms.

"Josh, you passed out on me, mate, for an hour," Blaise said. "I was horrified when you just started screaming like crazy. It was scary, and I needed to tell someone, and I just thought that telling Daphne would just ease things between you. It did, right?"

"Sort of," Josh answered, leaning back. "But you shouldn't have told her about my father. I wanted to tell her that."

"Oh, sorry mate," Blaise said as the compartment door opened up again reveal to beautiful girls, Daphne and Tracey.

"Hello, Blaise," Tracey greeted, sitting next to Blaise. "Hello, Josh Black!" She added with a smirk.

Josh turned to stared at Daphne, knowing that she was the one who told her his truth. "What?" Daphne said, noticing Josh's stare. "I'm sorry, but Tracey is my best friend, and I tell her everything."

"Right," Tracey agreed with a nod. "There are no lies and secrets betweens us."

"Yeah, that's great," Josh said, sitting up straight. "Just don't go telling anyone else. I want it to be a secret for a while longer. I don't want everyone glaring at me, knowing that my father is a convicted murderer and thinking I am to follow in his footsteps."

"But you told me he was innocent," Blaise said.

"He is. Its just that everyone doesn't know that. They like to believe the Daily Prophet more than a man's word," Josh explained.

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Tracey asked. Josh sighed and then told Daphne and Tracey the full story of his adventure last year at Hogwarts.

"You produced a full corporeal Patronus?" Tracey asked in awe. Josh nodded.

"Yeah, me an Harry did," Josh said. "I don't know, but I knew I could do it and I thought I was going to see my mother again which made me pretty happy, and boom, a silvery Raven flew out of my wand, shooing away hundreds of Dementors, with a silvery Stag by its side."

"What was it like to go back in time?" Blaise asked. "Did you see yourself?" Josh nodded. "That would be cool. If i could go back in time, I would leave secret messages to let me know what I should do, or just prank myself."

"First you're nearly killed by Quirell, then you're almost eaten by a giant snake and tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, and then your soul nearly gets sucked out by dementors. Your life has become dangerous, Josh," Daphne said, looking very concerned.

"Yeah I know," Josh said with a smirk. "Isn't it great?"

"No, its not great," Daphne said. "What if something else bad is going to happen this year, I mean, the Dark Mark at the World Cup? Tell me that is not a bad sign."

"Look, nothing bad may not happen this year, Daph," Josh assured. "At least not to me, more like to Harry. And I'll just be on the side lines this year, okay? I'll be there in the library, studying or hanging out with you, Blaise, Tracey, Neville, and Hermione."

"Granger?" Daphne said. Josh nodded, looking away and not noticing the small sneer upon Daphne's face. "Josh - "

"Shh!" Tracey whispered suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward the compartment next to theirs. Josh, Blaise, and Daphne listened, and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door.

"… Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore - the man's such a Mudblood-lover - and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do…"

Tracey got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.

"Durmstrang?" Josh repeated, looking puzzled.

"Yeah, it's the another Magical school," Blaise spoke.

"I know," Josh said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah," said Daphne sniffily, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."

"But does anyone know where is it? What country?" Blaise asked.

"Well, nobody knows, do they?" said Tracey, raising her eyebrows.

"Er - why not?" Josh asked.

"There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets," said Daphne matter-of-factly.

"Come off it," said Blaise, starting to laugh. "Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as Hogwarts — how are you going to hide a great big castle?"

"But Hogwarts is hidden," said Tracey, in surprise. "Everyone knows that… well, everyone who's read Hogwarts, A History, anyway."

"So, how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?" Josh asked.

"It's bewitched," said Daphne. "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a mouldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE."

"So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an outsider too?"

"Maybe," said Daphne, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable -"

"Come again?"

"Well, you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?"

"Er… if you say so," Josh said with a raised eyebrow.

"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," said Daphne thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."

"Ah, think of the possibilities," said Blaise dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident… Shame his mother likes him…"

The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Josh bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for them to share.

As the afternoon progressed, Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother, had looked in on him and said hello to all four of them, and chatted for a bit.

Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match.

"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."

"It was," said Tracey. "Krum was amazing. He is so wonderful, isn't he?"

"We saw Krum right up close, as well," said Josh. "We were in the Top Box -"

"For the first and probably the last time in your life, Black."

Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Nott, and Crabbe and Goyle, their enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Neville had left ajar.

"Funny, don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Josh said coolly.

"Oh, don't mind us, we're just passing by," Malfoy said.

"Well, then pass by."

"I was going to, but then I noticed a few of my Housemates sitting with a Bastard child and a squib," Malfoy said, glancing at his housemates. "So… going to enter, Black? Going to try and bring back the glory of your family name?"

"What are you on about?" Josh said, with a puzzled look.

"Are you going to enter?" Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you Potter will? He never missed the chance to show off, do you?"

"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," Daphne said testily.

A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy's pale face.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" he said delightedly. "You've got a mother, oh wait, she's in Azkaban, but you do have a Grandfather at the Ministry and you don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago… heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry…"

Laughing once more, Malfoy beckoned to Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle, and the four of them disappeared, along with a howling Rosalae.

Josh got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them that the glass shattered.

"Joshua!" Daphne said reproachfully, and she pulled out her wand, muttered "_Reparo_!" and the glass shards flew back into a single pane and back into the door.

"Malfoy is such a git, him and his stupid cronies, especially Nott," Josh growled, the memory of Nott indicating that he should get to know his cousin lingered in his mind.

"Don't let them get to you -"

"Them! Get to me! As if!" Josh said, clenching his hands into fist. "Malfoy and people like him need to be set straigh, and I would gladly be the one to do it!"

Daphne, Tracey, Neville, and Blaise all looked at one another then back at Josh with concern in their eyes. Josh didn't talk much as they changed into their school robes, and was still glowering when the Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station.

As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads.

First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid.

"So glad I am not a first year right now," Blaise commented as him, Josh, Daphne, Tracey, and Neville jumped into a carriage together.


	11. Triwizard Tournament

Chapter 11: Triwizard Tournament

Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Josh could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Josh, Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, and Neville jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase.

"Bloody Hell," said Blaise, brushing off his shoulders, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak - ARRGH!"

A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Blaise's head and exploded. Drenched and sputtering, Blaise staggered sideways into Josh, just as a second water bomb dropped - narrowly missing Tracey, it burst at Josh's feet, sending a wave of cold water over his shoes into his socks.

Josh looked up and saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again.

"PEEVES!" yelled an angry voice. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!" Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Tracey around the neck to stop herself from falling.

"Ouch - sorry, Miss Davis -"

"That's all right, Professor!" Tracey gasped, massaging her throat.

"Peeves, get down here NOW!" barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles.

"Not doing nothing!" cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived.

"I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves -"

Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely.

"Well, move along, then!" said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"

Josh, Neville, Blaise, Tracey, and Hermione slipped and slid across the entrance hall and through the double doors on the right, Blaise muttering furiously under his breath as he entered.

The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer in here. Josh and Neville bid their Slytherin friends goodbye, walked past the Slytherins, the Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindors at the far side of the Hall, next to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

Pearly white and semitransparent, Nick was dressed tonight in his usual doublet, but with a particularly large ruff, which served the dual purpose of looking extra-festive, and insuring that his head didn't wobble too much on his partially severed neck. Ivy's electric blue hair gleamed in the candlelight as she turned to smile at them.

"Good evening," Nick said, beaming at them.

"Says who?" said Harry, as Josh took off his sneakers and emptying them of water. "Hope they hurry up with the Sorting, I'm starving."

The Sorting of the new students into Houses took place at the start of every school year, and Josh and the others were quite looking forward to it. Just then, a highly excited, breathless voice called down the table.

"Hiya, Harry!" It was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Harry were something heroes.

"Hi, Colin," said Harry wearily.

"Harry, guess what? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!" Josh heard Colin say.

"Er - good," said Harry.

"He's really excited!" said Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. "I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?"

"Er - yeah, all right," said Harry. He turned back to Josh, Hermione, Ron, and Nearly Headless Nick. "Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don't they?" Harry said. Josh figured he was judging by the Weasleys, all seven of whom had been put into Gryffindor.

"Oh no, not necessarily," said Hermione. "Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw, and they're identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?"

Josh looked up at the staff table. There seemed to be rather more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was another empty chair too, and he figured it would be the new Defense Against the Dart Arts professor.

"Where's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Hermione, who was also looking up at the teachers.

They had never yet had a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. Their favorite by far had been Professor Lupin, who had resigned last year. They looked up and down the staff table. There was definitely no new face there.

"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" said Hermione, looking anxious.

Josh scanned the table more carefully. Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her flyaway gray hair. She was talking to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired Potions master, Snape - Harry's least favorite.

On Snape's other side was an empty seat, which Josh guessed was Professor McGonagall's. Next to it, and in the very center of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping silver hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep green robes embroidered with many stars and moons. The tips of Dumbledore's long, thin fingers were together and he was resting his chin upon them, staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought.

Josh glanced up at the ceiling too. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and he had never seen it look this stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it.

"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, beside Harry, "I could eat a hippogriff." Josh rolled his eyes at Ron. He was going to try and avoid him all year, but it would be difficult since they were in the same house, same classes, and lived in the same dorm.

The Great Hall doors opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall, and at the end of the line was a taller boy, who looked older, and if Josh wasn't mistaken, it was the boy he had met at the Ministry of Magic, William something.

For people who sailed over the lake when it was raining, the first years and William were surprisingly dry for some strange reason. It was pouring outside, so how were they dry?

All of the First Years and William were shivering with nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school.

Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The first years and William stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:

_A thousand years or more ago,_

_When I was newly sewn,_

_There lived four wizards of renown,_

_Whose names are still well known:_

_Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_

_Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_

_Shrewd Slytherin, from fen._

_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_

_They hatched a daring plan_

_To educate young sorcerers_

_Thus Hogwarts School began._

_Now each of these four founders_

_Formed their own house, for each_

_Did value different virtues_

_In the ones they had to teach._

_By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

_Prized far beyond the rest;_

_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

_Would always be the best;_

_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

_Most worthy of admission;_

_And power-hungry Slytherin_

_Loved those of great ambition._

_While still alive they did divide_

_Their favorites from the throng,_

_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

_When they were dead and gone?_

_'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

_He whipped me off his head_

_The founders put some brains in me_

_So I could choose instead!_

_Now slip me snug about your ears,_

_I've never yet been wrong,_

_I'll have a look inside your mind_

_And tell where you belong!_

The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished.

"That's not the song it sang when it Sorted us," said Harry, clapping along with everyone else.

"It sings a new one every year," Josh heard Ron say. "It's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it, being a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one."

Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.

"Ackerley, Stewart!"

A boy walked forward, visibly trembling nervously from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him.

"Baddock, Malcolm!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The table on the other side of the hall erupted with cheers; Josh could see Daphne, Blaise, and Tracey clapping as Baddock joined the Slytherins. Fred and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down.

"Branstone, Eleanor!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Cauldwell, Owen!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Creevey, Dennis!"

Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door behind the teachers' table. About twice as tall as a normal man, and at least three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly alarming – a misleading impression, for Harry, Josh, Neville, Ron, and Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide— -

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

Hagrid clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it back on the stool, and hurried over to join his brother.

"Colin, I fell in!" he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. "It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!"

"Cool!" said Colin, just as excitedly. "It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!"

"Wow!" said Dennis, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being thrown into a storm-tossed, fathoms-deep lake, and pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster. "And when we were entering the castle, this older boy dried us off with his wand, it was neat!"

"Dennis! Dennis! See that boy down there? The boy with the black hair and glasses and green eyes? See him? Know who he is, Dennis?"

Josh watched as Harry looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs.

The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the L's.

"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, massaging his stomach.

"Now, Ron, the Sorting's much more important than food," said Nearly Headless Nick as "Madley, Laura!" became a Hufflepuff.

"Course it is, if you're dead," snapped Ron.

"I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch," said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as "McDonald, Natalie!" joined the Gryffindor table. "We don't want to break our winning streak, do we?" Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship for the last three years in a row.

"Nielsen, William!"

And the tallest of the first years walked up to the stool as sat down looking a bit nervous.

Ron sorted, "Little old to be a first year, isn't he? Unless he's was held back for being stupid."

"Shut up, Ron. You don't know anything," Josh growled, as the hat then shouted 'RAVENCLAW!" and the whole Ravenclaw clapped really loud as William walked over and sat at the table.

"Why is he there?" Hermione asked. "He does look a little old, like our age."

"He's obviously a transfer student," Josh answered, sighing heavily. "Why else would he be here?" He said rhetorically, and the sorting continued.

"Pritchard, Graham!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Quirke, Orla!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

And finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away.

"About time," said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate.

Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.

"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in."

"Hear, hear!" said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes. Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Josh, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Nevill loaded their own plates.

"Aaah, 'at's be'er," said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato.

"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know," said Nearly Headless Nick. "There was trouble in the kitchens earlier."

"Why? Wha' 'appened?" said Harry, through a sizable chunk of steak.

"Peeves, of course," said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. "The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast - well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council - the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance – but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down."

The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt and silent specter covered in silver bloodstains. He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves.

"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something," said Ron darkly. "So what did he do in the kitchens?"

"Oh the usual," said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits—"

_Clang._

_"Oi!"_

Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange and some spilling onto Josh who was patting himself down with his napkin, but Hermione paid no attention.

"There are house-elves here?" she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at Hogwarts?"

"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."

"I've never seen one!" said Hermione.

"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning… see to the fires and so on… I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"

Hermione stared at him.

"But they get paid?" she said. "They get holidays, don't they? And - and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?"

Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck.

"Sick leave and pensions?" he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. "House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!"

Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her.

"Oh c'mon, 'Er-my-knee," said Ron, accidentally spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding. "Oops — sorry, 'Arry —" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!"

"Slave labour," said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. Slave labour."

And she refused to eat another bite.

"Hermione, don't be ridiculous," Josh spoke. "Just - "

"Shut it, Josh!" Hermione hissed, shocking Josh of her tone.

The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.

"Treacle tart, Hermione!" Josh said, handing her the desert. Hermione stared at it and threw it off the plate, hitting someone in the back of the head. "Hermione!" He hissed, but Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up.

When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered," ("Hmph!" said Hermione) "I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"What?" Harry gasped.

Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.

A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swivelled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.

A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped.

The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Josh had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.

One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Josh couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.

The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."

It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him.

"Moody?" Josh heard Harry mutter to Ron. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?"

"Must be," said Ron in a low, awed voice.

"What happened to him?" Hermione whispered. "What happened to his face?"

"Dunno," Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination.

Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his travelling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it.

As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Josh saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.

The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar." Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time… no…" said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Josh himself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it!" Fred hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualising himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Josh could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbours. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.

This" — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.

"They can't do that!" said George, who had not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

"They're not stopping me entering," said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"

"Yeah," said Ron, a faraway look on his face. "Yeah, a thousand Galleons…"

"Come on," Hermione said, "We'll be the only ones left here if you don't move."

Josh and Neville followed other Gryffindors as they made their way towards the entrance hall.

"I wonder how they're going to choose the Champions?" Neville wondered, as the two climbed the steps.

"Maybe someone who's old and wise like Dumbledore will choose them," Josh replied, scratching his shoulder. "What d'you reckon? Be cool to enter, wouldn't it?" He asked Neville. "I mean, if we could, dunno if we learned enough though..."

"I certainly haven't," Neville said gloomily. "Well, I expect my gran'd want me to try anyway," he said. "She's always going on about how I should be upholding the family honour. I'll just have to — oops…"

Neville's foot had sunk right through a step halfway up the staircase. There were many of these trick stairs at Hogwarts; it was second nature to most of the older students to jump this particular step, but Neville's memory was notoriously poor. Josh and someone else seized him under the armpits and pulled him out, while a suit of armour at the top of the stairs creaked and clanked, laughing wheezily. Josh glanced at the other person and saw it was Ginny.

"Shut it, you," Ginny said, banging down its visor as they passed.

"Hey, Ginny," Josh said.

"Hey," Ginny greeted with a smile.

"Thanks, Ginny," Neville said with a blush.

"No problem," Ginny replied with a smile and continued ahead of the two Gryffindors and up the stairs.

Josh and Neville made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said as they approached. Josh looked at Neville who went wide-eyed and shrugged.

"Balderdash," said Josh, wrapping his arm around an embarassed Neville.

The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall through which the two climbed. A crackling fire warmed the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables.

Josh and Neville climbed up the last, spiral staircase until they reached their own dormitory, which was situated at the top of the tower. Six four-poster beds with deep cromson hangings stood against the walls, each with its owner's trunk at the foot. Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus were alread inside, getting ready for bed.

Josh and Neville got into their pajamas and into bed. Someone - a house-elf no doubt - had placed warming pans between the sheets. it wasextremely comfortable, lying there in bed and listening to the storm raging outside.

Josh stared at the top of his bed, thinking of how cool it would be to enter the Tournament and win Eternal Glory, but that title was meant for someone else and not just some boy.


	12. Moody

Chapter 12: Moody

The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter gray swirled overhead as Josh and Neville examined their new course schedules at breakfast.

A few seats along, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were discussing magical methods of aging themselves and bluffing their way into the Triwizard Tournament.

"Today's not bad… outside all morning," said Neville, who was running his finger down the Monday column of his schedule. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, nice, and Care of Magical Creatures… awe, we're still with the Slytherins…"

"Double Divination this afternoon," Josh groaned, looking down. Divination was his least favorite subject, apart from Potions. Professor Trelawney kept predicting other people's death especially Harry's death, which was extremely annoying."Why did I take her class? I should have tooken something worth while."

"You should have given it up like me, shouldn't you?" said Hermione briskly, who happened to sitting next to Josh and buttering herself some toast. "Then you'd be doing something sensible like Arithmancy."

"I see you're eating," Josh said, watching Hermione adding liberal amounts of jam to her toast too.

"I've decided there are better ways of making a stand about elf rights," said Hermione haughtily.

"Yeah… and you were hungry," Josh said with a smirk. Hermione looked at Josh who noticed she was trying not to smile.

There was a sudden rustling noise above them, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows carrying the morning mail. Instinctively, Josh looked up. The owls circled the tables, looking for the people to whom their letters and packages were addressed. A large tawny owl soared down to Neville and deposited a parcel into his lap - Neville almost always forgot to pack something.

On the other side of the Hall Draco Malfoy's eagle owl had landed on his shoulder, carrying what looked like his usual supply of sweets and cakes from home. Trying to ignore the sinking feeling of jealousy in his stomach, Josh returned to his porridge. Ever since his mother was in Azkaban, Josh had never received an other kind of letters, not even from his Grandfather. He would only write if Josh wrote him first.

His preoccupation lasted all the way across the sodden vegetable patch until he arrived in greenhouse three, but here he was distracted by Professor Sprout showing the class the ugliest plants Josh had ever seen. Indeed, they looked less like plants than thick, black, giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large, shiny swellings upon it, which appeared to be full of liquid.

"Bubotubers," Neville whispered to Josh with a small smile. Josh chuckled lightly.

"Bubotubers," Professor Sprout told them briskly. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus -"

"The what?" said Seamus Finnigan, sounding revolted.

"Pus, Finnigan, pus," said Professor Sprout, "and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, bubotuber pus."

Squeezing the bubotubers was disgusting, but oddly satisfying. As each swelling was popped, a large amount of thick yellowish-green liquid burst forth, which smelled strongly of petrol. They caught it in the bottles as Professor Sprout had indicated, and by the end of the lesson had collected several pints.

"This'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy," said Professor Sprout, stoppering the last bottle with a cork. "An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, bubotuber pus. Should stop students resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."

"Like poor Eloise Midgen," said Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff, in a hushed voice. "She tried to curse hers off."

"Silly girl," said Professor Sprout, shaking her head. "But Madam Pomfrey fixed her nose back on in the end."

A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signaling the end of the lesson, and the class separated; the Hufflepuffs climbing the stone steps for Transfiguration, and the Gryffindors heading in the other direction, down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid's small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of his enormous black boarhound, Fang. There were several open wooden crates on the ground at his feet, and Fang was whimpering and straining at his collar, apparently keen to investigate the contents more closely.

As they drew nearer, an odd rattling noise reached their ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.

"Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at the Gryffindors. "Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this - Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

"Come again?" said Ron.

Hagrid pointed down into the crates.

"Eurgh!" squealed Lavender Brown, jumping backward. "Eurgh" just about summed up the Blast-Ended Skrewts in Josh's opinion. They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one aother, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small phut, it would be propelled forward several inches.

"On'y jus' hatched," said Hagrid proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"

"And why would we want to raise them?" said a cold voice.

The Slytherins had arrived. The speaker was Draco Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle were chuckling appreciatively at his words.

Hagrid looked stumped at the question.

"I mean, what do they do?" asked Draco. "What is the point of them?"

Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; there was a few seconds' pause, then he said roughly,

"Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things - I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer - I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake - just try 'em out with a bit of each."

"First pus and now this," Josh heard Seamus mutter.

Nothing but deep affection for Hagrid could have made the Josh nervously pick up squelchy handfuls of frog liver and lower them into the crates to tempt the Blast-Ended Skrewts. He couldn't suppress the suspicion that the whole thing was entirely pointless, because the skrewts didn't seem to have mouths.

"Ouch!" yelled Dean Thomas after about ten minutes. "It got me."

Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious.

"Its end exploded!" said Dean angrily, showing Hagrid a burn on his hand.

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said Hagrid, nodding.

"Eurgh!" said Lavender Brown again. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"

"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid enthusiastically (Lavender quickly withdrew her hand from the box). "I reckon they're the males… The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies… I think they might be ter suck blood."

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Malfoy sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?" And for the first time ever, Josh snorted at Malfoy's comment, which Malfoy, Ron, Neville, and Daphne noticed.

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped, taking the looks away from Josh. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

Josh smiled. Hagrid would have liked nothing better than a pet dragon, as Him, Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew only too well - he had owned one for a brief period during their first year, a vicious Norwegian Ridgeback by the name of Norbert. Hagrid simply loved monstrous creatures, the more lethal, the better.

"Well, at least the skrewts are small," Neville said as him and Josh made their way back up to the castle for lunch an hour later.

"They are now," said Josh, "but once Hagrid's found out what they eat, I'm betting they'll be huge."

Josh and Neville sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped themselves to lamb chops and potatoes. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joing them, sitting across from the two, helping themselves to some food. Hermione began to eat so fast that Harry, Josh, Neville and Ron stared at her.

"Er - is this the new stand on elf rights?" said Ron. "You're going to make yourself puke instead?"

"No," said Hermione, with as much dignity as she could muster with her mouth bulging with sprouts. "I just want to get to the library."

"What?" said Ron in disbelief. "Hermione - it's the first day back! We haven't even got homework yet!"

Hermione shrugged and continued to shovel down her food as though she had not eaten for days. Then she leapt to her feet, said, "See you at dinner!" and departed at high speed.

"She's not going to look up homework stuff," Josh said, watching her leave. "She's going to look up the histroy of House-elves."

"How do you know?" Ron asked annoyingly, and stuffing his face with food.

"Do you ever listen to what she says?" Josh said to Ron who shrugged. Josh rolled his eyes and began to eat his own food, not noticing that Malfoy was looking at him, but someone else did.

When the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon lessons, Harry, Josh, Neville, and Ron set off for North Tower where, at the top of a tightly spiralling staircase, a silver stepladder led to a circular trapdoor in the ceiling, and the room where Professor Trelawney lived.

The familiar sweet perfume spreading from the fire met their nostrils as they emerged at the top of the stepladder. As ever, the curtains were all closed; the circular room was bathed in a dim reddish light cast by the many lamps, which were all draped with scarves and shawls. Josh and Neville followed Harry and Ron through the mass of occupied chintz chairs and poufs that cluttered the room, and sat down at the same small circular table.

"Good day," said the misty voice of Professor Trelawney right behind Harry, making him jump.

A very thin woman with enormous glasses that made her eyes appear far too large for her face, Professor Trelawney was peering down at Harry with the tragic expression she always wore whenever she saw him.

The usual large amount of beads, chains, and bangles glittered upon her person in the firelight.

"You are preoccupied, my dear," she said mournfully to Harry. "My inner eye sees past your brave face to the troubled soul within. And I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead for you, alas… most difficult… I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass… and perhaps sooner than you think…"

Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, who looked stonily back.

Professor Trelawney swept past them and seated herself in a large winged armchair before the fire, facing the class. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who deeply admired Professor Trelawney, were sitting on pouffes very close to her.

"My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars," she said. "The movements of the planets and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance. Human destiny may be deciphered by the planetary rays, which intermingle…"

Josh sat back, staring at his table as Trelawney went on and on. He thought how Hermione was right about leaving this class, and maybe he should to.

"Harry!" Josh heard Ron mutter.

"What?" Harry said.

Josh looked up and around; the whole class was staring at Harry.

"I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn," said Professor Trelawney, a faint note of resentment in her voice at the fact that Harry had obviously not been listening.

"Born under - what, sorry?" said Harry.

"Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!" said Professor Trelawney, sounding definitely irritated. "I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birts… Your dark hair… your mean stature… tragic losses so young in life… I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?"

"No," said Harry, "I was born in July."

Ron and Josh hastily turned their laughs into hacking coughs.

Half an hour later, each of them had been given a complicated circular chart, and was attempting to fill in the position of the planets at their moment of birth. It was dull work, requiring much consultation of timetables and calculation of angles.

"I've got two Neptunes here," said Neville after a while, squinting down at his piece of parchment, "that can't be right, can it?"

Josh looked at Neville's chart and shrugged. "I have no idea," he said.

Suddenly, there were excited squeals from Lavender Brown - "Oh Professor, look! I think I've got an unaspected planet! Oooh, which one's that, Professor?"

"It is Uranus, my dear," said Professor Trelawney, peering down at the chart.

"Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?" said Ron. Harry, Neville, Dean, Seamus, and even Josh began to laugh, Seamus stuffing his head in his arms, unable to control his laughter

Most unfortunately, Professor Trelawney heard him, and it was this, perhaps, that made her give them so much homework at the end of the class.

"A detailed analysis of the way the planetary movements in the coming month will affect you, with reference to your personal chart," she snapped, sounding much more like Professor McGonagall than her usual airy-fairy self. "I want it ready to hand in next Monday, and no excuses!"

"Miserable old bat," said Ron bitterly as they joined the crowds descending the staircases back to the Great Hall and dinner. "That'll take all weekend, that will…"

"Lots of homework?" said Hermione brightly, catching up with them.

"Professor Vector didn't give us any at all!"

"Well, bully for Professor Vector," said Ron moodily.

"Maybe you should have kept your mouth shut, and we wouldn't have had so much homework, Weasley," Josh spoke.

"Oh, bite me, Black," Ron retorted. Josh was about to retort, but thought otherwise when he saw Hermione grabbed his arm and shook her head.

They reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. They had just joined the end of the line, when a loud voice rang out behind them.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"

Harry, Ron, Neville, Josh, and Hermione turned. Malfoy, Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something.

"What?" said Ron shortly.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this!"

_FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_

_It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."_

Malfoy looked up.

"Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" Malfoy crowed.

Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on:

_Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene._

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! I reckon your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?" he added.

Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him.

"Get stuffed, Malfoy," said Harry. "C'mon, Ron…"

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter? You and Anderson," sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Harry - both he and Josh had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy - "that expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"

Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink. "Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away.

BANG!

Several people screamed - Josh watched as something white-hot grazed Harry's face - he both plunged his hand into his robes for his wands, but before he'd even touched it, and Josh heard a second loud BANG, and a roar that echoed through the entrance hall.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

Josh spun around. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right at a pure white ferret which was shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing.

There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody turned to look at Harry — at least, his normal eye was looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the back of his head at Josh for some unknown reason.

"Did they get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.

"No," said Harry, "missed."

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted.

"Leave - what?" Harry said, bewildered.

"Not you - him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out of the back of his head.

Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave terrified squeaks and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again - it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.

"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do…"

The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly. "Never - do - that - again -" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.

"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice.

Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.

"What - what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.

"Teaching," said Moody.

"Teach - Moody, is that a student?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.

"Technically, it's a ferret," said Moody.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with Malfoy's sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock -"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then," said Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.

Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable.

"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy… You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son…you tell him that from me…now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," said Malfoy resentfully.

"Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape… Come on, you…"

And he seized Malfoy's upper arms and marched him off toward the dungeons.

Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for a few moments, then waved her wand at her fallen books, causing them to soar up into the air and back into her arms.

"Don't talk to me," Ron said quietly to Harry, Josh, Neville, and Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all sides about what had just happened.

"I wasn't," Josh said, earning an elbow from Hemione.

"Why not?" said Hermione in surprise, as Josh rubbed his stomach.

"Because we want to fix that in our memories forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret."

Harry, Josh, Neville and Hermione laughed, and Hermione began doling beef casserole onto each of their plates.

"He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," she said. "It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall stopped it -"

"Hermione!" said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping open again, "you're ruining the best moment of my life!"

Hermione made an impatient noise and began to eat at top speed again.

"Don't tell me you're going back to the library this evening?" said Harry, watching her.

"Got to," said Hermione thickly. "Loads to do."

"But you told us Professor Vector -"

"It's not schoolwork," she said. Within five minutes, she had cleared her plate and departed, Josh watching her leave. No sooner had she gone than her seat was taken by Fred.

"Moody!" he said. "How cool is he?"

"Beyond cool," said George, sitting down opposite Fred. "Supercool," said the twins' best friend, Lee Jordan, sliding into the seat beside George. "We had him this afternoon," he told the eight of them.

"And we had him this morning," George said to the guys.

"What was it like?" said Harry eagerly as Josh listened intently.

Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks full of meaning.

"Never had a lesson like it," said Fred.

"He knows, man," said Lee.

"Knows what?" said Ron, leaning forward.

"Knows what it's like to be out there doing it," said George impressively.

"Doing what?" said Harry.

"Fighting the Dark Arts," said Fred.

"He's seen it all," said George.

"Mazing," said Lee.

Ron dived into his bag for his schedule. "We haven't got him till Thursday!"


	13. Unforgivable Curses

Chapter 13: Unforgivable Curses

The next two days passed without great incident, unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions. Professor Snape, who seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, gave Neville detention, and Neville returned from it in a state of nervous collapse, having been made to disembowel a barrel full of horned toads.

"You know why Snape's in such a foul mood, don't you?" said Ron to Harry and Josh as they watched Hermione teaching Neville a Scouring Charm to remove the frog guts from under his fingernails.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Moody."

It was common knowledge that Snape really wanted the Dark Arts job, and he had now failed to get it for the fourth year running. Snape had disliked all of their previous Dark Arts teachers, and shown it - but he seemed strangely wary of displaying overt animosity to Mad-Eye Moody. Indeed, whenever Josh saw the two of them together - at mealtimes, or when they passed in the corridors - he had the distinct impression that Snape was avoiding Moody's eye, whether magical or normal.

"I reckon Snape's a bit scared of him, you know," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Imagine if Moody turned Snape into a horned toad," said Ron, his eyes misting over, "and bounced him all around his dungeon…"

"Like that'll happen," Josh muttered lazily, staring at his defense book, and Ron heard.

The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to Moody's first lesson so much that they arrived early on Thursday lunchtime and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung. The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson.

"Been in the -"

"Library." Josh finished her sentence for her.

"C'mon, quick, or we won't get decent seats," Harry added.

They hurried into some chairs right in front of the teacher's desk, took out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, and waited, unusually quiet. Soon they heard Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he entered the room, looking as strange and frightening as ever. They could just see his clawed, wooden foot protruding from underneath his robes.

"You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, "those books. You won't need them."

They returned the books to their bags, some students looking a bit excited.

Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of grizzled grey hair out of his twisted and scarred face, and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swivelled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.

"Right then," he said, when the last person had declared themselves present, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark -"

"What, aren't you staying?" Ron blurted out.

Moody's magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled - the first time Jpsh had seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than ever, but it was nevertheless good to know that he ever did anything as friendly as smile.

Ron looked deeply relieved.

"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago… Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favour to Dumbledore… One year, and then back to my quiet retirement."

He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together.

"So - straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope under the desk. Apparently Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head.

"So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Josh's, Ron's, and Hermione's.

Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.

"My dad told me about one…is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?" Ron said.

"Ah, yes," said Moody. "Your father definitely would know that one. Gave the Ministry a bit of trouble."

Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it.

Josh saw Ron recoil slightly in front of him - Ron hated spiders. Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "_Imperio_!"

The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.

Everyone was laughing - everyone except Moody and Josh, who didn't think it was that funny.

"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter died away almost instantly.

"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…"

Ron gave an involuntary shudder.

"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody, and Josh knew he was talking about the days in which Voldemort had been all-powerful. "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will.

"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone jumped.

Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.

"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"

Hermione's hand flew into the air again, and so, to Josh's slight surprise, did Neville's. The only class in which Neville usually volunteered information was Herbology which was easily his best subject. Neville looked surprised at his own daring.

"Yes?" said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over to fix on Neville.

"There's one - the Cruciatus Curse," said Neville in a small but distinct voice. Josh's eyes grew dark. He knew that curse, the very curse he was put under his second year.

Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes.

"Your name's Longbottom?" he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register again.

Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further inquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.

"The Cruciatus Curse," said Moody. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider. "_Engorgio_!"

The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretence, Ron pushed his chair backward, as far away from Moody's desk as possible. Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, _"Crucio!"_

At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Harry was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Under his desk, Josh began clenching his hands into fists as he remembered what it was like to be under the curse. Pain he had never felt before, the worst pain one could only imagine. And then, Josh's eyes glazed over as he watched the spider being tortured.

Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently - "Stop it!" Hermione said shrilly.

Josh blinked, knowing he heard Hermione's voice. He looked around at her. She was looking, not at the spider, but at Neville, and Josh, following her gaze, saw that Neville's hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, his eyes wide and horrified. Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.

_"Reducio,"_ Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar.

"Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse… That one was very popular once too.

"Right… anyone know any others?"

Josh looked around. From the looks on everyone's faces, he guessed they were all wondering what was going to happen to the last spider. Josh turned to look at Moody and raised his hand.

"Yes?" said Moody, looking at him.

"The Avada Kedavra," Josh said, loud and clear.

Several people looked uneasily around at him, especially Ron.

"Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra… the Killing Curse."

He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface.

Moody raised his wand, and Josh felt a sudden thrill of foreboding.

_"Avada Kedavra_!" Moody roared.

There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air - instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him. Josh stared at where the spider was killed. He wasn't the only one staring. Harry was staring as well.

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a bit a magic behind it," Moody began speaking. "Ou could all get your wands out and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt i'd get so much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it.

"Now, if there's no counter curse, why am I showing you? _Because you've go to know. _You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the whole class jumped again.

"Now...those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and the Cruciatus - are all known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being in enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice _constant, never-ceasing vigilance._ Get our your quills...copy this down..."

They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No on spoke until the bell rang - but when Moody had dismissed them and they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices - "Did you see it twitch?" "- and when he killed it - just like that?"

Josh left the class with a quiet Neville by his side. "

"Neville?" Hermione said gently. Josh and Neville turned to the Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

"Oh hello," Neville said, his voice much higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm - I'm starving, aren't you?"

"Neville, are you all right?" said Hermione.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville gabbled in the same unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner - I mean lesson - what's for eating?"

Josh and Hermione shared worried glances.

"Neville, what -?"

But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All five of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard.

"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on… we can have a cup of tea..."

Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody.

Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry.

"You all right, are you, Potter?"

"Yes," said Harry, almost defiantly.

Moody's blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry. Then he said, "You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point pretending… well… come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you."

Neville looked pleadingly at Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione, but they didn't say anything, so Neville had no choice but to allow himself to be steered away, Moody's gnarled hands on his shoulder.

"What was that about?" said Ron, watching Neville and Moody turn the corner.

"I don't know," said Hermione, looking pensive.

"Some lesson, though, eh?" said Ron to Harry as they set off for the Great Hall. "Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right -"

But Ron fell suddenly silent at the look on Harry's face and didn't speak again until they reached the Great Hall, when he said he supposed they had better make a start on Professor Trelawney's predictions tonight, since they would take hours.

Josh slowly ate his dinner and did not join in with Harry and Ron's conversation during dinner, nor did Hermione who ate furiously fast, and then left for the library again. Once Josh was finished, he left the Great Hall and slowly climbed the stairs. He walked up to the seconds floor and then suddenly stopped. He turned his head to the right to see the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Josh walked to the door and opened it.

"What are you doing?" said a voice.

Josh looked behind him to see the new Ravenclaw Transfer student, William, standing a few feet away, and looking at Josh curiously.

"William," Josh greeted, turning away from the bathroom.

"Joshua," William greeted back, adjusting the strap on his bag. "What are you doing?" he repeated.

"I was...going to...the bathroom," Josh answered lamely.

"But that's the girl's restroom," William said, pointing behind Josh.

Josh looked back at the bathroom door then back at William. "Ah, yeah," he said. "My mistake. I thought it was the boy's restroom. I can be such a dolt sometimes," he laughed, and then began to walk with William in tow. "So, HOw do you like Hogwarts?"

"It's great," William answered, then sighed. "But i do miss my old school."

"Which is where exactly?" Josh asked.

"In Denmark," William answered. "The best place in the world, but we had to move. I wasn't too happy about that, but i'll manage."

Josh nodded. "So your father is an Ambassador for the Ministry, what about your mother?"

"A Physicist," William said, then saw the puzzled look on Josh's face. "My mother is a muggle, making me a Half-blood." Josh nodded. "You know, My school was a bit different than Hogwarts," William spoke as the two hit the fourth floor, and began walking up the next staircase.

"How so?" Josh asked.

"Well, first of all," William started. "We didn't have to wear out-dated uniforms, And our Potions class was Potion's Theory, we didn't actaully make potions and stuff, just studied about them."

"Yeah, that is different," Josh spoke as they reached the fifth floor. "And what do you think of Snape?"

"He's kind of clever," William started, looking indifferent. "But he's not that great at teaching is he? I mean, he just insults almost everyone's potions. He sneers when he does compliment, but I don't even know if it really is a compliment, like half insult, half compliment." Josh nodded, knowing exactly what William meant. "And he is pretty scary, too."

"Pretty scary?" spoke a voice, and then two boys appeared next to Josh and William, which happened to be Harry and Ron. "Talking about Professor Moody?" Ron asked.

"No," Josh answered lazily. "Snape."

"Oh," Ron said. "Yeah, Snape, really scary. Who are you, again?" he said, poining towards William.

"Guys, this is William Nielsen, the Transfer student from Denmark," Josh greeted. "William, this is Harry Potter and his sidekick, Ron Weaslebee."

"It's Weasley," Ron said through gritted teeth, while shaking William's hand and glaring at Josh who smirked back. William then shook Harry's hand, glancing at his famous scar.

"It was nice to meet you," William said, nearing a corridor. "But this is my stop."

"Nice to meet you too," Harry said, while Ron nodded.

"Yeah, seeya in class," Josh spoke, and then the Ravenclaw left towards the Tower of Ravenclaw.

"Strange fella," Ron said, leading Harry and Josh up the next flight of stairs.

"He's a tranfer student, Ron, what'd you expect?" Josh said.

"I don't know," Ron replied, annoyed. "And what's with you introducing me by Weaslebee? Forget my name?"

"No, I thought it was catchy," Josh said.

"Well, stop," Ron hissed. "I don't make fun of your name, Black or Anderson, or is it Blanderson? What is your surname anyways?"

Josh sighed. "Might as well tell you since everyone else knows," he said, and then told him his surname and about Sirius.

"Wow, that's strange," Ron said as they reached the seventh floor. "So, you're a pureblood, like me. Son of Sirius Black, making you a Black."

"Who was in Gryffindor," Josh commented, looking at Ron who was looking conflicted. Before the conversation went any further, Harry changed the subject.

"Wouldn't Moody and Dumbledore be in trouble with the Ministry if they knew we'd seen the curses?" He asked as they approached the Fat Lady.

"Yeah, probably," said Ron, looking normal. "But Dumbledore's always done things his way, hasn't he, and Moody's been getting in trouble for years, I reckon. Attacks first and asks questions later - look at his dustbins. _Balderdash_."

The Fat Lady swung forward to reveal the entrance hole, and they climbed into the Gryffindor common room, which was crowded and noisy.

"Shall we get our Divination stuff, then?" said Harry.

"I s'pose," Ron groaned.

They went up to the dormitory to fetch their books and charts, to find Neville there alone, sitting on his bed, reading. He looked a good deal calmer than at the end of Moody's lesson, though still not entirely normal. His eyes were rather red.

"You all right, Neville?" Josh asked him.

"Oh yes," said Neville, "I'm fine, thanks. I'm just reading this book Professor Moody lent me."

Neville held up the book: _Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean_.

"Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I'm really good at Herbology," Neville said. There was a faint note of pride in his voice that Josh had rarely heard there before. "He thought I'd like this."

Telling Neville what Professor Sprout had said, Josh thought, had been a very tactful way of cheering Neville up, for Neville very rarely heard that he was good at anything. It was the sort of thing Professor Lupin would have done.

Harry, Josh, and Ron took their copies of _Unfogging the Future, _back down in the common room, found a table, and set down their predictions for the comming month. An hour later, they had made little progress, though their table was littered with bits of parchment bearing sums and symbols, and Josh's brain was fogged as though it had been filled with the fumes of Trelawney's fire.

"I haven't got a clue what this lot's suppose to mean," Harry said, staring down at a long list of calculations.

"You know," Ron said, whose hair was on end because of all the times he had run his fingers through it in frustration. "I think it's back to the old Diviation stand by."

"What? Just make up things?" Josh said, his head flat on the table as he was bored by Divination.

"Yeah," Ron said, sweeping the jumble of scrawled notes off the table, dipping his pen into some ink, and started to write. "Next Monday," he said as he scribbled. "I am likely to develop a cough, owing to the unluck conjustion of Jupiter and Mars." He looked up at Harry, as Josh raised his head. "You know her - just put in loads of misery, and she'll lap it up."

"Right," Harry said, crumpling up ahis first attempt and lobbing it over the heads of a group of first years and into the fire. "Okay...on Monday, I will be in danger of the - er - burns."

"Yeah, you will be," Ron said darkly. "We're seeing the srewts on Monday again," he said, to which Josh wrote that on Monday, he will witness a Slytherin student being attacked in his Care of Magical Creatures class. "Okay, Tuesday, I'll..erm..."

"Lose a treasured possession," said Harry who was flipping through _Unfogging the Future_ for ideas.

"Good one," Ron said, copying it down. And Ron and Harry continued to say their predictions as they wrote them down, while Josh remained quiet as he wrote down his predictions, which would be just as ridiculous as Harry's and Ron's.

They continued to make up more predictions for another hour while the common room around them slowly emptied as people went up to bed. Fred and George were one of the last ones to head up to bed and when they left, the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed into the common room carrying a sheaf of parchment in one hand and a box whose contents rattled as she walked in and towards the boys. Crookshanks arched its back, purring.

"Hello," she said, "I've just finished!"

"So have I!" Ron said, triumphantly, throwing down his quill.

Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying in an empty armchair and pulled Ron's predictions toward her. "Not going to have a good month, are you?" she said sardonically as Crookshanks curled up in her lap.

"Ah well, at least I'm forewarned," Ron yawned.

"You seem to be drowning twice," said Hermion.

"Oh am I?" Ron said, peering down at his predictions. "I'd have to change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging Hippogriff."

"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione.

"How dare you!" Ron said, in mock outrage. "We've been working like house-elves here!"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"It's just an expression, Hermione," Josh spoke, staring at his parchment, not even looking at her. He then looked up to see Hermione looking at him with a puzzled expression.

Harry laid down his quill too, having just finished predicting his own death by decapitation. "What's in the box?" he asked, pointing at it.

"Funny you should ask," said Hermione, with a nasty look at Ron. She took off the lid and showed them the contents. Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colours, but all bearing the same letters: S.P.E.W.

"Spew?" said Harry, picking up a badge and looking at it. "What's this about?"

"Not spew," said Hermione impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W. Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"Never heard of it," said Ron as Josh grabbed a badge and eamined it.

"Well, of course you haven't," said Hermione briskly, "I've only just started it."

"Yeah?" said Ron in mild surprise. "How many members have you got?"

"Well - if you guys join - four," said Hermione.

"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?" said Ron.

"S-P-E-W!" said Hermione hotly. "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status - but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto."

Hermione brandished a sheaf of parchment at them.

"I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."

"Hermione - open your ears," said Ron loudly. "They. Like. It. They _like_ being enslaved!"

"Our short-term aims," said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn't heard a word, "are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about nonwand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."

"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked.

"We start by recruiting members," said Hermione happily. "I thought two Sickles to join - that buys a badge - and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer, Ron - I've got you a collecting tin upstairs - and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting."

"And me?" Josh spoke, leaning in his chair. "I don't have a special job?"

"Not yet," Hermione replied with an excited smile, to which Josh frowned and rolled his eyes.

There was a pause in which Hermione beamed at the three of them, and Josh sat, torn between exasperation at Hermione and amusement at the look on Ron's face. A soft tap on the window was suddenly heard. Harry looked across the now empty common room and saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a snowy owl perched on the windowsill.

"Hedwig!" he shouted, and he launched himself out of his chair and across the room to pull open the window.

Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room, and landed on the table on top of Harry's predictions.

"About time!" said Harry, hurrying after her.

"She's got an answer!" said Ron excitedly, pointing at the grubby piece of parchment tied to Hedwig's leg.

Harry hastily untied it and sat down to read, whereupon Hedwig fluttered onto his knee, hooting softly.

"What does the letter say?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

The letter was very short, and looked as though it had been scrawled in a great hurry. Harry read it aloud:

_Harry -_

_I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumours that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore - they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is. I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron, Hermione and Josh. Keep your eyes open, Harry._

_Sirius."_

Harry looked up at the others, who stared back at him.

"He's flying north?" Hermione whispered. "He's coming back?"

"Dumbledore's reading what signs?" said Ron, looking perplexed. "Harry - what's up?"

For Harry had just hit himself in the forehead with his fist, jolting Hedwig out of his lap.

"I shouldn't've told him!" Harry said furiously.

"What are you on about?" Josh asked in surprise.

"It's made him think he's got to come back!" said Harry, now slamming his fist on the table so that Hedwig landed on the back of Ron's chair, hooting indignantly. "Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! And I haven't got anything for you," Harry snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, "you'll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food."

Hedwig gave him an extremely offended look and took off for the open window, cuffing him around the head with her outstretched wing as she went.

"Harry," Hermione began, in a pacifying sort of voice.

"I'm going to bed," said Harry shortly. "See you in the morning." And then left.

"I don't understand," Ron said after Harry was gone. He then turned to Josh. "What did he mean?"

"He's just mad at himself," Josh spoke. "If Sirius comes back, then there's a chance he could get caught, and of course, the way Harry thinks, he'll think it was all his fault."

"How do you know?" Ron asked.

"Because that's what would I think," Josh answered, leaning forward. "If Sirius was coming back for me, then I'd think that too, I mean, he is my father."

"But he's coming for Harry, not you," Hermione said. "Does that make you jealous?"

Josh shrugged. He didn't really feel anything at the moment. His feelings towards his father were still jumbled and mixed. He wasn't sure if he would care if Sirius was caught. Josh was fine without him before, what difference would it make if he was gone again.


	14. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons

Chapter 14: Durmstrang and Beauxbatons

Next morning, Josh awoke a little late to find that he was the only one in bed. Grolwing to himself about roomates being ungrateful about waking him up, Josh hurriedly left his bed and began to dress. Minutes later, Josh was running through the halls and towards the Great Hall.

"That was a lie, Harry," Josh heard Hermione say sharply when he entered the Great Hall and sat next to them. "You didn't imagine your scar hurting and you know it."

"So what?" said Harry as Josh looked between the two, knowing that they were talking about Sirius or something similar. "He's not going back to Azkaban because of me."

"Drop it," said Ron sharply to Hermione as she opened her mouth to argue some more, and to Josh's surprise, Hermione heeded Ron, and fell silent.

Over the next couple of weeks, nothing fun or interesting had been happening at Hogwarts so far. Josh wished there was another adventure afoot before the tournament started, but he knew nothing like that was going to happen this year. He also wished Quidditch was around, and he had thought about trying out this year if he could. He could tryout for a chaser or keeper since Wood no longer played for the team, having graduated last year. Everything was dull and a bit boring, and Josh hoped there was something fun to distract him.

Their lessons were becoming more difficult and demanding than ever before, particularly Moody's Defence Against the Dark Arts. To their surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.

"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor," said Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said - to use it against another human was -"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swivelling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. Josh and Nevlle grinned at each other. They knew Hermione would rather eat bubotuber pus than miss such an important lesson.

Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. Josh watched as, one by one, his classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, making pig noises. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel.

Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."

Josh watched as Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, "_Imperio_!"

Josh saw Harry's eyes glaze over and Moody spoke, "Jump onto the desk… jump onto the desk…"

Josh saw Harry bend his knees obediently, preparing to spring.

"Jump onto the desk…" Moody said again, but Harry didn't move. "Jump onto the desk…" But Harry didn't move. "Jump! NOW!"

Josh then watched as Harry had both jumped and tried to prevent himself from jumping - the result was that he'd smashed headlong into the desk knocking it over.

"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody. "Look at that, you lot…Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention - watch his eyes, that's where you see it - very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!"

Moody once again tried to control Harry a few more times with the curse, but Harry fought it every time.

"Excellent," Moody growled. "Now, who's left?" Josh slowly raised his hand, and everyone looked at him. "Ah, yes, come on over." Josh nodded and moved over to the spot. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Josh, and said, "_Imperio_!" and Josh's eyes glazed over.

It was the most wonderful feeling. Josh felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in her head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. He stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of everyone watching him.

And then he heard Mad-Eye Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of his empty brain: _Twirl__… Twirl like a ballerina…_

Josh blinked, his eyes turning to normal as he saw Moody still pointing his wand at Josh. "No," he said, as Moody looked at his eyes.

"Interesting," Moody muttered, lowering his wand. Josh looked over at the crowd to see everyone looking at Josh with confusion in their eyes. Josh looked back wondering why they were looking at him like that. "Class dismissed!" Moody suddenly growled out. "And remember, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Josh moved from the center of the classroom and towards his bag, Neville walking over to him. "What was that?" he asked.

"What was what?" Josh asked, picking up his bag and hoisting it over his shoulder.

"When Moody put you under the Imperius," Neville said, as the two began leaving the classroom. "You resisted it in an instant."

"Oh, yeah, weird," Josh spoke, as if it was nothing. "So, what? I'm sure other people can do it too."

"Yeah, probably Dumbledore," Neville said. "And you-know-who." And Josh suddenly tripped over his own foot, nearly falling over. "Josh, are you alright?" Neville asked as Josh regained his footing.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Josh said, thinking about what Neville just said.

"The way he talks," Josh heard Harry say as he hobbled through the corridor, in front of him and Neville, "you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second."

"Yeah, I know," said Ron, who was skipping on every alternate step. He had much more difficulty with the curse than Harry or Josh, though Moody assured him the effects would wear off by lunch. "Talk about Paranoid..." Ron glanced nervously over his shoulder to check that Moody was definitely out of earshot and went on. "No wonder they were glad to get shot of him at the Ministry. Did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted 'Boo' behind him on April Fools' Day? And when are we supposed to read up on resisting the Imperius Curse with everything else we've got to do?"

All the fourth years had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work they were required to do this term. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had assigned.

"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer —"

"We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas indignantly.

"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger and Mr. Anderson remain the only people in this class who have managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!"

Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with herself, while Josh was laying his head in his arms and staring through McGonagall out of boredom.

Harry, Josh, and Ron were deeply amused when Professor Trelawney told them that they had received top marks for their homework in their next Divination class. She read out large portions of their predictions, commending them for their unflinching acceptance of the horrors in store for them - but they were less amused when she asked them to do the same thing for the month after next; but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that a couple of Predictions of Josh's had come true.

He witnessed Nott getting caught the bad end of a Screwt and was burned a bit badly. His other predictions, one about Josh losing all his quills which did happen, and one about how he would be tortured by spirits, which he was terrorized by Peeves throwing more water balloons at him.

Meanwhile Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes. They took this one seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked.

Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms.

Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. Hagrid was delighted, and as part of their "project," suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behavior.

"I will not," said Draco Malfoy flatly when Hagrid had proposed this with the air of Santa Claus pulling an extra-large toy out of his sack. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."

Hagrid's smile faded off his face.

"Yeh'll do wha' yer told," he growled, "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book… I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy."

The Gryffindors roared with laughter and a few Slytherins. Malfoy flushed with anger, but apparently the memory of Moody's punishment was still sufficiently painful to stop them from retorting. Harry, Ron, Josh, Neville, and Hermione returned to the castle at the end of the lesson in high spirits; seeing Hagrid put down Malfoy was particularly satisfying, especially because he had done their very best to get Hagrid sacked the previous year.

When they arrived in the entrance hall, they found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest of the them, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the other two:

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY –

"Brilliant!" said Harry. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.

"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him…"

"Cedric?" Josh heard Ron say blankly as Ernie hurried off.

"Diggory," said Harry. "He must be entering the tournament."

"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" Josh said nonchalantly, causing Ron to snort, as they pushed their way through the chattering crowd toward the staircase.

"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch," said Hermione as Josh raised an eyebrow. "I've heard he's a really good student - and he's a prefect." She spoke as though this settled the matter.

"You only like him because he's handsome," said Ron scathingly.

"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly.

Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!" As Josh laughed.

The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where Josh went: the Triwizard Tournament.

Rumours were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves. Josh noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armour were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics. Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too.

"Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" Professor McGonagall barked at the end of one particularly difficult lesson, during which Neville had accidentally transplanted his own ears onto a cactus. Josh had to set Neville straigh all the while trying not to laugh hysterically.

When they went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.

Harry, Ron, Neville, Josh, and Hermione sat down around Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. Once again, and most unusually, they were sitting apart from everyone else and conversing in low voices. Ron led the way over to them.

"It's a bummer, all right," George was saying gloomily to Fred. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."

"Who's avoiding you?" said Ron, sitting down next to them.

"Wish you would," said Fred, looking irritated at the interruption.

"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.

"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," said George. Josh snorted, but coughed when Ron glared at him, then turned back to the Twins.

"You two have any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Josh asked. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"

"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," said George bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."

"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" Ron said thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before…" Josh rolled his eyes at Ron's words.

"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," said Fred. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."

"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," said Hermione, and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised, "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage."

She noticed them all looking at her and said, with her usual air of impatience that nobody else had read all the books she had, "It's all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."

"What are you on about?" said Ron, though Josh thought he knew what was coming.

"House-elves!" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts, A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"

Josh rolled his eyes and applied himself to his scrambled eggs. Their lack of enthusiasm had done nothing whatsoever to curb Hermione's determination to pursue justice for house-elves.

True, all of them, had paid two Sickles for a S.P.E.W. badge, but they had only done it to keep her quiet.

Their Sickles had been wasted, however; if anything, they seemed to have made Hermione more vociferous. She had been badgering Harry, Josh, and Ron ever since, first to wear the badges, and she had also taken to rattling around the Gryffindor common room every evening, cornering people and shaking the collecting tin under their noses.

"You do realize that your sheets are changed, your fires lit, your classrooms cleaned, and your food cooked by a group of magical creatures who are unpaid and enslaved?" she kept saying fiercely.

Some people, like Neville, had paid up just to stop Hermione from glowering at them. A few seemed mildly interested in what she had to say, but were reluctant to take a more active role in campaigning. Many regarded the whole thing as a joke.

Ron now rolled his eyes at the ceiling, which was flooding them all in autumn sunlight, and Fred became extremely interested in his bacon (both twins had refused to buy a S.P.E.W. badge). George, however, leaned in toward Hermione.

"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?"

"No, of course not," said Hermione curtly, "I hardly think students are supposed to -"

"Well, we have," said George, indicating Fred, "loads of times, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world -"

"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione began hotly, but her next few words were drowned out by the sudden whooshing noise from overhead, which announced the arrival of the post owls. Josh kept eating food, not expecting a letter as nearly everyone else got a letter, even Harry. Josh was surprised as his owl, Shadow, dropped a letter on his plate.

Josh grabbed the letter and opened it, having a feeling he knew who it was from.

_Josh,_

_I'm back in the country and well hidden. I need a favor. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts, I've told Harry to do the same, but I want you to tell to make sure Harry isn't leaving out any details. Don't use Shadow, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself and keep an eye on Harry. Hope you are well,_

_Sirius_

"Why d'you have to keep changing owls?" Josh heard Ron asked in a low voice as he folded up Sirius's letter.

"Hedwig'll attract too much attention," said Hermione at once. "She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps returning to wherever he's hiding… I mean, they're not native birds, are they?"

Harry rolled up the letter and slipped it inside his robes. "Thanks, Hedwig," he said, stroking her. She hooted sleepily, dipped her beak briefly into his goblet of orange juice, then took off again, clearly desperate for a good long sleep in the Owlery.

"Who's the letter from?" Neville asked, noticing as Josh put his letter in his bag.

"My grandfather," Josh lied. "Just checking up on me, since we haven't spoke in a while." Neville nodded and went back to his breakfast.

There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Harry, Ron, Josh, Neville, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, straighten your collar," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."

Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.

"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front… no pushing…"

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Josh, standing between Neville and Hermione in the fourth row from the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first years.

"Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

"I doubt it," said Hermione.

"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky. "I don't think so… not from that far away…"

"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" said Hermione impatiently.

They scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and quite as usual. Josh was starting to feel cold. He wished they'd hurry up… Maybe the foreign students were preparing a dramatic entrance… He remembered what Mr. Weasley had said back at the campsite before the Quidditch World Cup: "always the same - we can't resist showing off when we get together…"

And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers - "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid… it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.

Dennis's guess was closer…

As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powderblue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward and crash into a Slytherin, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.

Josh quickly helped Neville back to his feet and turned just in time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) open. A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then Josh saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled - followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.

Josh had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in his life, and that was Hagrid; he doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow - maybe simply because they were used to Hagrid - this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.

Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.

Josh, whose attention had been focused completely upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads.

From what Josh could see of them (they were standing in Madame Maxime's enormous shadow), they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses -"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."

"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job.

"Hagrid can handle anything."

"Zey are very strong…"

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.

"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Josh and Neville.

"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," Josh said, crossing his arms.

"That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?" Neville said, placing his hands in his pocket.

"Maybe they've escaped," Josh said hopefully.

"Oh, don't say that," Hermione said with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds…"

They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.

For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then - "Can you hear something?" said Ron suddenly. Josh listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.

"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing towards the lake. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the centre; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor… What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool… and then Josh saw the rigging…

"It's a mast!" Josh heard someone say.

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes.

Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, Josh noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle… but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, he saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Josh noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…"

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Josh caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows, and then he heard the excited voice of Ron.

"Harry - it's Krum!"

**A/N: Yes, there, Josh is impervious to this curse, and you're wondering why? Well I do have the answer but I cannot tell you that. Anyways, I'm sure the next Chapter you are all going to be Thunderstruck! Dun dun dun dun!**


	15. The Goblet of Fire

Chapter 15: The Goblet Of Fire

"I don't believe it!" Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. "Krum, Harry! Viktor Krum!"

"For heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player," said Hermione.

"Only a Quidditch player?" Ron said, looking at her as though he couldn't believe his ears. "Hermione - he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!"

As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, Josh saw Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of Krum's head.

Several sixth-year girls were frantically searching their pockets as they walked - "Oh I don't believe it, I haven't got a single quill on me -"

"D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"

"I'm getting his autograph if I can," said Ron and Josh rolled his eyes. "You haven't got a quill, have you, Harry?"

"Nope, they're upstairs in my bag," said Harry.

"Josh?"

"Oh, yeah, Ron, let me just pull them out of my secret stash I keep in my back pocket," Josh said sarcastically. Ron rolled his eyes

"Don't have to be sarcastive," He said "I thought you were a fan."

"I am, just not a stupidly over zealous one like you," Josh replied as Ron rolled his eyes and turned away, to ask Hermione.

They walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Ron took care to sit on the side facing the doorway, because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students were still gathered around it, apparently unsure about where they should sit. Students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.

"It's not that cold," said Hermione defensively. "Why didn't they bring cloaks?"

"Over here! Come and sit over here!" Ron hissed. "Over here! Hermione, Josh, budge up, make some space -"

"What?" Hermione hissed.

"Too late," said Ron bitterly.

Viktor Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students had settled themselves at the Slytherin table. Josh could see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle looking very smug about this. As he watched, Malfoy bent forward to speak to Krum.

"Yeah, that's right, smarm up to him, Malfoy," said Ron scathingly. "I bet Krum can see right through him, though… bet he gets people fawning over him all the time…

"Where d'you reckon the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are going to sleep?" Harry said thoughtfully.

"We could offer Krum a space in our dormitory…I wouldn't mind giving him my bed, I could kip on a camp bed," Ron said at once.

Hermione and Josh snorted.

"They look a lot happier than the Beauxbatons lot," said Harry. The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed.

Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his mouldy old tailcoat in honour of the occasion. Josh was surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Dumbledore's. "But there are only two extra people," Josh said.

"Why's Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?" Harry said, frowning.

"Eh?" said Ron vaguely. He was still staring avidly at Krum.

When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh, a girl Josh had been staring at.

"No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

He sat down, and Josh turned toward the head table and saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation.

The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Josh had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.

"What's that?" said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.

"Bouillabaisse," said Hermione.

"Bless you," said Ron, as Josh laughed.

"It's French," said Hermione, "I had it on holiday summer before last. It's very nice."

"I'll take your word for it," said Ron, helping himself to black pudding.

The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep blood red.

Hagrid sidled into the Hall through a door behind the staff table twenty minutes after the start of the feast. He slid into his seat at the end and waved at Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione with a very heavily bandaged hand.

"Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?" Harry called.

"Thrivin'," Hagrid called back happily.

"Yeah, I'll just bet they are," said Ron quietly. "Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Hagrid's fingers."

At that moment, a voice said, "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"

It was the girl from Beauxbatons who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. She had finally removed her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth.

Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.

"Yeah, have it," Josh blurted out, a little too loudly, and Hermione pushed the dish toward the girl, eyeing Josh.

"You 'ave finished wiz it?"

"Yeah," Ron said breathlessly. "Yeah, it was excellent."

The girl picked up the dish and carried it carefully off to the Ravenclaw table. Ron and Josh were still goggling at the girl as though he had never seen one before.

Harry started to laugh. The sound seemed to jog the two back to their senses.

"She's a veela!" he said hoarsely to Harry.

"What!?" Josh said, turning towards Ron. He thought veelas didn't work on him. He was just staring at her because she was a very beautiful girl. Maybe she was a special Veela?

"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like a couple of idiots!"

But she wasn't entirely right about that. As the girl crossed the Hall, many boys' heads turned, and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron or Josh.

"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"

"Excuse me?" Ron cowered under the glares of Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati.

"They make them okay at Hogwarts," said Harry without thinking.

"Yeah, they do," Josh said, nodding in agreement as he stared over at a girl at the Slytherin table.

"When you've both put your eyes back in," said Hermione briskly, "you'll be able to see who's just arrived."

She was pointing up at the staff table. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. Ludo Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss, was next to Madame Maxime.

"What are they doing here?" said Harry in surprise.

"My guess is that they were the ones who organized the Triwizard Tournament," Josh said. "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."

When the second course arrived they noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Ron examined an odd sort of pale blancmange closely, then moved it carefully a few inches to his right, so that it would be clearly visible from the Ravenclaw table. The girl who looked like a veela appeared to have eaten enough, however, and did not come over to get it. Josh, however, wasn't staring at that girl anymore, instead he was staring at Daphne who was eating desert and talking to Tracey.

Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. Josh felt a slight thrill of excitement, wondering what was coming. Several seats down from him, Fred and George were leaning forward, staring at Dumbledore with great concentration.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket —"

"The what?" Harry muttered.

Ron shrugged.

"- just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Josh thought he looked strange in wizard's robes. His toothbrush moustache and severe parting looked very odd next to Dumbledore's long white hair and beard.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen.

Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as they all made their way across the Hall to the doors into the entrance hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing - it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Hermione, "we just haven't learned enough…"

"Speak for yourself," said George shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry, Josh?"

Josh thought briefly of Dumbledore's insistence that nobody under seventeen should submit their name, but then the wonderful picture of himself winning the Triwizard Tournament filled his mind again… He wondered how angry Dumbledore would be if someone younger than seventeen did find a way to get over the Age Line.

"Actually, I would if I could," Josh said, from next to Harry who shook his head.

"No thanks, I've had enough danger without voluntarily walking into it." Harry answered.

"Where is he?" said Ron, who wasn't listening to a word of this conversation, but looking through the crowd to see what had become of Krum. "Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?"

But this query was answered almost instantly; they were level with the Slytherin table now, and Karkaroff had just bustled up to his students.

"Back to the ship, then," he was saying. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"

Josh saw Krum shake his head as he pulled his furs back on. "Professor, I vood like some vine," said one of the other Durmstrang boys hopefully.

"I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff," snapped Karkaroff, his warm paternal air vanishing in an instant. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy -"

Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Harry, Josh and the others. Harry stopped to let him walk through first.

"Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at him. And then Karkaroff froze. He turned his head back to Harry and stared at him as though he couldn't believe his eyes. Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Harry's face and fixed upon his scar.

The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at the Harry too. Out of the corner of their eyes, Josh saw comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. The boy with food all down his front nudged the girl next to him and pointed openly at Harry's forehead.

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," said a growling voice from behind them, but Josh didn't hear that as he heard a different familair voice.

"Well, I'll be damned, It's Josh."

Josh spun around. There standing in a Durmstrang coat and fur, with blue eyes, black hair, a rough face, with a scar across his cheek, was Josh's cousin, Cyrus Emrys.

The color drained from Josh's face as Hermione watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him.

"Cyrus," Josh greeted dryly.

"Hello there, Josh," Cyrus greeted back, with a hand on Josh's shoulder. "It's been a while, How've you been?"

"Fine," Josh said quickly.

"You two no one another?" Hermoine asked moving closer.

"Know each other?' Cyrus said, hugging Josh, who seemed annoyed, with one arm. "We're family."

"He's my cousin," Josh said, trying to push Cyrus off.

"Yeah, hasn't been talking a lot about me, have you Josh?" Cyrus said, letting Josh go. Josh moved away and straightened his robes.

"Actually, He's only mentioned you once," Hermione answered for Josh, who glared at Hermione.

"Only once!?" Cyrus said, then looked at Josh, punching him in the arm. "Not ashamed of your childhood idol, are you Josh?"

"What?!" Josh scoffed. "No, of course not," he added grabbing Neville from out of no where. "Me and Neville talk about you all the time."

"We do?" Neville said cluselessy.

"Yeah, Neville," Josh said. "Don't you remember me telling you about how cool my cousing, Cyrus, is? Remeber Neville? Remeber?" Neville continued to look cluelessly trying to figure out what was going on, until Josh elbowed him in the gut.

"Um, right..." he said slowly, holding his gut.

"Yeah, right," Cyrus said, eyeing Neville, then Hermione. "Well, the troops are leaving, so I'll seeya later, Josh," he said, ruffling Josh's hair and then followed his fellow students that were leaving the castle.

"What was that about?" Neville asked as the other students continued their way out of the Great Hall.

"Yeah, Joshua, what was that all about?" Hermione asked, eyeing Josh who sighed, fixing his hair.

"I just got a little surprise is all," He answered, walking up the steps.

"Surprised? You seemed more nervous to me, Joshua," Hermione said, following next to Josh.

"Nervous?" Josh said, glancing behind himself. "No, I wasn't."

"Josh, yes you were," Hermione said, as Neville nodded in agreement.

"Okay, maybe a little."

"Why? You never get nervous," Neville said.

"Untrue," Josh replied. "I get nervous all the time."

"Rarely," Hermione spoke. "Why does your cousin make you nervous?"

"I...don't...want to talk about it," Josh answered, speeding up to catch Harry and Ron, while Hermione and Neville shared a look.

As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have breakfasted late. Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione, however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did on weekends. When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the center of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction.

"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.

"All the Durmstrang lot," she replied. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."

"Bet some of them put it in last night after we'd all gone to bed," said Harry. "I would've if it had been me… wouldn't have wanted everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?"

Someone laughed behind Josh. Turning, he saw Fred, George, and Lee hurrying down the staircase, three of them looking extremely excited.

"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, Josh, and the others. "Just taken it."

"What?" said Ron.

"The Aging Potion, dung brains," said Fred.

"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."

"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.

"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.

"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon, then - I'll go first -"

Josh watched, fascinated, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words Fred Weasley - Hogwarts. Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.

For a split second Harry thought it had worked - George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred - but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.

The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who were howling with laughter, and Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione, also chortling, went in to breakfast.

The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. Harry led the way over to Dean and Seamus, who were discussing those Hogwarts students of seventeen or over who might be entering.

"There's a rumour going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in," Dean told Josh. "That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth. We can't have a Slytherin champion!"

"And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory," said Seamus contemptuously. "But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks."

"Listen!" said Hermione suddenly.

People were cheering out in the entrance hall. They all swivelled around in their seats and saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. A tall black girl who played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Angelina came over to them, sat down, and said, "Well, I've done it! Just put my name in!"

"You're kidding!" said Ron, looking impressed.

"Are you seventeen, then?" asked Harry.

"Course she is, can't see a beard, can you?" said Ron.

"I had my birthday last week," said Angelina.

"Well, I'm glad someone from Gryffindor's entering," said Hermione. "I really hope you get it, Angelina!"

"Thanks, Hermione," said Angelina, smiling at them.

"Yeah, better you than Pretty-Boy Diggory," said Seamus, causing several Hufflepuffs passing their table to scowl heavily at him.

"What're we going to do today, then?" Ron asked the others when they had finished breakfast and were leaving the Great Hall.

"We haven't been down to visit Hagrid yet," said Harry.

"Ok," said Ron, "just as long as he doesn't ask us to donate a few fingers to the skrewts."

A look of great excitement suddenly dawned on Hermione's face.

"I've just realised - I haven't asked Hagrid to join S.P.E.W. yet!" she said brightly. "Wait for me, will you, while I nip upstairs and get the badges?"

"What is it with her?" said Ron, exasperated, as Hermione ran away up the marble staircase.

The students from Beauxbatons were coming through the front doors from the grounds, among them, the veela-girl. Those gathered around the Goblet of Fire stood back to let them pass, watching eagerly.

Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students and organised them into a line. One by one, the Beauxbatons students stepped across the Age Line and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue-white flames. As each name entered the fire, it turned briefly red and emitted sparks.

"What d'you reckon'll happen to the ones who aren't chosen?" Ron muttered to the others as the veela-girl dropped her parchment into the Goblet of Fire. "Reckon they'll go back to school, or hang around to watch the tournament?"

"Dunno," said Harry. "Hang around, I suppose… Madame Maxime's staying to judge, isn't she?"

When all the Beauxbatons students had submitted their names, Madame Maxime led them back out of the hall and out onto the grounds again.

"Where are they sleeping, then?" said Ron, moving toward the front doors and staring after them.

A loud rattling noise behind them announced Hermione's reappearance with the box of S.P.E.W. badges.

"Oh good, hurry up," said Ron, and he jumped down the stone steps, keeping his eyes on the back of the veela-girl, who was now halfway across the lawn with Madame Maxime. Josh followed them for a while, but then without thinking, he left the group and began walking towards the lake. He didn't feel like going to Hagrid's right now.

"This is pretty exciting, isn't it?" a voice said next to Josh.

"Were you following me?" Josh asked as he turned to his right to see Daphne standing next to him and smiling.

"Maybe," she said.

"What if I was going to Hagrid's with the others?" Josh asked, throwing his hands in his pockets.

"Then I would have intercepted you first," Daphne replied crossing her arms and looking out onto the lake like Josh. "I need your help," she said suddenly.

"With what?" Josh asked curiously, eyeing Daphne.

"Follow me," Daphne said simply and began walking away.

"I said what, not I'll do it," Josh called after her. But Daphne didn't reply, she just kept walking. Josh sighed, rolled his eyes, and jogged after her.

Daphne led Josh back into the castle and up to the second floor towards a corridor where he could hear laughing and shouting. Josh stopped Daphne before turning the corner.

"What's going on?" Josh asked.

"Take a look," Daphne said simply. Josh sighed and took a look around the corner to see his enemy Nott, Goyle, Crabbe, and Malfoy. But that wasn't all he saw. William was there, and so was his bag that was being tossed around by Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle, like they were playing keep away. Malfoy was leaning against the wall, looking mildly amused.

"What took you so long!" whispered another voice, surprising Josh. He turned around to see Tracey and Blaise had joined them.

"Josh," Blaise greeted with a smirk and a nod.

"Hey Josh," Tracey said with a smile.

"Hey, guys." Josh greeted back and turned to Daphne. "What do you want me to do about this?" he asked her.

"We thought you'd help," Daphne answered. "Tracey saw you talking to him before and We thought he was your friend and that you should help him."

"We only talk in class," Josh said, "And that's only helping each other out with schoolwork."

"So, you don't want to help him?" Tracey asked.

"I didn't say that," Josh replied. "I was only saying we aren't best mates," he added, taking a look back into the corridor. "So, I'm going by myself then?" he asked, turning toward his Slytherin friends who began looking at one another.

"It's not like we want to," Tracey spoke. "Its just, we don't want to get involved attacking other Slytherins."

"I was just going to confront them," Josh replied. "But if there was a magical fight, I could take down Crabbe and Goyle down easily, but Nott and Malfoy is something else. So, I need a partner," he said, staring at Blaise.

"What!?" he said, then sighed. "Fine, let's get this over with."

Josh nodded and led Blaise around the corner as Tracey and Daphne watched.

Josh and Blaise walked up to the Slytherins and William, who stopped what they were doing when they noticed the two boys.

"Zabini, Black," Nott said, breathing a little heavily. "Come join us."

"Why the hell would I ever join you in anything," Josh spoke, looking at all the Slytherins in turn. Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle sneered back at Josh while Malfoy watched in Curiosity. "Now, let's all be mature, and give William his bag back.

"Why should we," Nott said stubbornly, tossing the bag to Goyle. "Besides, you can't tell us what to do, nor can you make us."

"Actaully, I could make you if I wanted to," Josh said, as Goyle tossed the bag to Crabbe. Nott didn't say anything, then looked at Blaise.

"Blaise, why do you hang around with this guy," Nott said, catching the bag, Crabbe hat tossed to him. "He's a Gryffindor, a loser."

"Better than hanging around you three idiots," Blaise replied, crossing his arms.

"Oh," Nott said, throwing the bag into William where it hit his chest, making him fall to the ground. "You guys are makig a big mistake. I mean, both of you should be on our side. Blaise, you're father was a great Death Eater, did great things."

"I don't think murdering innocent people was great," Blaise said, glaring at Nott. "He deserves to be dead, and I'm glad he is."

Nott shook his head and turned to Josh. "And you, you're the last line of the most dark, noble, and ancient family, the Blacks," he said. "You should help us, not be against us."

"Well, like father, like son," Josh said, then looked at Malfoy. "Right, Malfoy?" Malfoy didn't reply.

"Don't talk to Malfoy," Nott said. "He's above you in so many ways."

"Right," Josh said then waved William over. "Come on, William. Let's get out of here." William began to move but was stopped by Crabbe.

"No, I don't think so," Nott said, who had his wand out. "I'm am sick and tired you you disrespecting me, and the people whose side you should be on. It's time you were taught a lesson."

"Oh, I don't think you want to go down that road, Nott," Josh said, as him and Blaise pulled out their wands, as did Crabbe and Goyle.

"Oh, I think I do," Nott growled, and then pointed his wand. "I'm going to show you what a real wizard can do with his wand," he said, the waved his wand, "_Confingo!" _And a purple curse soard towards Josh who ducked under it, and the curse hit and blew up a suit of armor.

Josh pointed his wand and took aim, as did Blaise, where the both shouted, "_Flipendo!_" and the two blue colored jinxes flew and knocked back both Crabbe and Goyle.

Josh stood up. "You're outumbered Nott," he said.

"No I'm not," Nott said, turning towards Malfoy to see that he was gone. Nott turned back to Josh. "This isn't over," he growled, then left down the corridor, possible the same way Malfoy left.

Josh and Blaise pocket their wands as William walked up to the two. "Wonder why Malfoy left," Blaise wondered.

"Probably didn't want to get into trouble," Josh said. "That curse Nott through could have put me in the Hospital Wing for a month." Blaise nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," William spoke, placing his bag over his shoulder.

"No problem," Josh said, "Anything to help out a friend," he added, lightly punching William in the arm. The three boys turned and began walking the opposite way Nott had left, leaving Crabbe and Goyle on the ground, groaning.

Once the boys joined the girls, they decided to go to the library and talk about the Tournament. William, feeling out of place, decided to leave, but then stopped when Josh invited him to join them, which he accepted.

By half past five it was growing dark, and they decided it was time to get back up to the castle for the Halloween feast - and, more important, the announcement of the school champions.

When they entered the candlelit Great Hall, all going there seperate ways, it was almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Fred and George - clean-shaven again - seemed to have taken their disappointment fairly well.

"Hope it's Angelina," said Fred as sat down next to Harry and Hermione.

"So do I!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Well, we'll soon know!"

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, but Josh didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as he would have normally. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Josh simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness.

The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting… A few people kept checking their watches…

"Any second," Lee whispered, two seats away from Josh.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Josh saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

"It's her, Ron!" Harry shouted as the girl who so resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. "Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, Josh thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.

When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next…

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

"No!" said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except Harry; the uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out -

"_Joshua Black!"_

**A/N: There you have it! Shocker!? Nah, you probably new it was coming, right? **_  
_


	16. The Four Champions

Chapter 16: The Four Champions

Josh sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him, well some heads, as others were looking for a Joshua Black, but many students knew it was him. Josh sat there stunned. He felt numb. He was surely dreaming, he had to be. He couldn't have heard correctly.

There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Josh as he sat, frozen, in her seat. Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly. Josh turned to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville; beyond them, he saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, openmouthed.

"I didn't put my name in," Josh said blankly, shaking his head. "You guys know I didn't."

All of them stared just as blankly back.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.

"Joshua Black!" he called again. "Joshua! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Josh a slight push.

Josh got to his feet and set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and he could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon her, as though each were a searchlight. He heard people starting to shout.

"He's a Cheat!"

"His last name is Black? Like Sirius Black?!"

"He's not even Seventeen yet!"

After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.

"Well…through the door, Joshua," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling. Josh swallowed and moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end.

He did not wink at Josh, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Josh as he passed like everyone else.

Josh went through the door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him. The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus moustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Josh walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

She thought he had come to deliver a message. Josh didn't know how to explain what had just happened. He just stood there, looking at the three champions, and feeling awkward. It struck him how very tall all of them were.

There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Josh by the arm and led him forward.

"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Josh's arm.

"Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen… lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion?"

Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Josh. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Josh and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."

"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Joshua's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered, but as he looked at Josh, his eyes flashed. Fleur frowned.

"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. "He cannot compete. He is too young."

"Well… it is amazing," said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Josh. "But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as his name's come out of the goblet… I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage…It's down in the rules, you're obliged…Joshua will just have to do the best he —"

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. Josh heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.

"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"

Somewhere under Josh's numb disbelief she felt a ripple of anger. Little boy? Josh has probably done more then her here at Hogwarts than she had at her school.

Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions – or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"

He gave a short and nasty laugh.

"C'est impossible," said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."

"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."

"It's no one's fault but Mr. _Black_'_s_, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. Josh raised an eyebrow at him; He used Josh's true name, but spoke it with venom on his tongue as if he hated that name.

His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Mr. Black's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here, along with Potter. Like fathers, like sons -"

"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair. Josh looked at Snape, wondering what he had meant.

Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Josh, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Joshua?" he asked calmly.

"No," said Josh, shaking his head. He was very aware of everybody watching him closely. Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows.

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.

"No," said Josh vehemently.

"Ah, but of course he is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling.

"He could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that -"

"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line," said Madame Maxime, shrugging.

"It is possible, of course," said Dumbledore politely.

"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Professor McGonagall angrily. "Really, what nonsense! Joshua could not have crossed the line himself, and as Professor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!"

She shot a very angry look at Professor Snape.

"Mr. Crouch… Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our - er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"

Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.

"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."

"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.

"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff. He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."

"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out - it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament -"

"- in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"

Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk.

"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody." Josh could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.

"Don't you?" said Moody quietly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Mr. Black's name in that goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out." Josh swallowed, wishing they stopped saying Mr. Black, at least for now.

"Evidently, someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.

"I quite agree, Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards -"

"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Mr. Black," growled Moody, "but… funny thing… I don't hear him saying a word…"

"Why should he complain?" burst out Fleur Delacour, stamping her foot. "He 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't he? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honour for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money - zis is a chance many would die for!"

"Maybe someone's hoping Mr. Black is going to die for it," said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl. Josh looked stunned. Who would wish for him to be dead? Beside Nott who was the same age, who would want him dead? Harry should likely be in this place, not him.

An extremely tense silence followed Moody's words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, "Moody, old man… what a thing to say!"

"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime," said Karkaroff loudly. "Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons.

"Imagining things, am I?" growled Moody. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boy's name in that goblet…"

"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?" said Madame Maxime, throwing up her huge hands.

"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" said Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament… I'm guessing they submitted Mr. Black's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category…"

"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly, "and a very ingenious theory it is - though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously…"

"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a menacing voice. "It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff - as you ought to remember…"

"Alastor!" said Dumbledore warningly. Josh wondered for a moment whom he was speaking to, but then realised "Mad-Eye" could hardly be Moody's real first name. Moody fell silent, though still surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction - Karkaroff's face was burning.

"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Joshua have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do…

"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr -"

"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."

Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited.

"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honours?"

Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.

"Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes… the first task…"

He moved forward into the firelight. Close up, Josh thought he looked ill. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his wrinkled skin that had not been there at the Quidditch World Cup.

"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Josh, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard… very important.

"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.

"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament.

"The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.

"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"

"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"

"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry," said Mr. Crouch. "It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment… I've left young Weatherby in charge… Very enthusiastic… a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told…

"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?" said Dumbledore.

"Come on, Barty, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly. "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here than at the office!"

"I think not, Ludo," said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience.

"Professor Karkaroff - Madame Maxime - a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.

But Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Josh could hear them both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, exited, though in silence.

"Joshua, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."

Josh glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left together.

The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burned low, giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins an eerie, flickering quality.

"So," said Cedric, with a slight mundane smile. "We're playing against each other then!"

"I guess," said Josh. He really couldn't think of anything to say. The inside of his head seemed to be in complete disarray, as though his brain had been ransacked.

"So… tell me…" said Cedric as they reached the entrance hall, which was now lit only by torches in the absence of the Goblet of Fire. "How did you get your name in?"

"I didn't," said Josh, glancing up at him. "I didn't put it in. I was telling the truth. I didn't even want to compete, well, I was curious. Okay, maybe I wanted to join, but the age line, you saw what it did to Fred and George, why wouldn't the same thing happen to me if I tried to put my name in."

"Ah… okay," said Cedric. Josh could tell Cedric didn't believe him. "Well… see you, then."

Instead of going up the marble staircase, Cedric headed for a door to its right. Josh stood listening to him going down the stone steps beyond it, then, slowly, he started to climb the marble ones.

Was anyone except his friends going to believe him, or would they all thinks he'd put himself in for the tournament? He knew how people could think that, as he said he would enter if he could, but when he was facing competitors who'd had three years' more magical education than he had - when he was now facing tasks that not only sounded very dangerous, but which were to be performed in front of hundreds of people?

But someone else had considered it… someone else had wanted himin the tournament, and had made sure they were entered. Why? To give him a treat? He didn't think so, somehow… To see him make a fool of herself? Well, they were likely to get their wish… But to get him killed? Was Moody just being his usual paranoid self? Couldn't someone have put Josh's name in the goblet as a trick, a practical joke? Did someone really want him dead? If so, then why?

If this was Harry, then Josh would know that maybe one of Voldemort's lackys would have put his name in the fire, but why would someone put Josh's name in the fire?

Josh got a shock to find himself facing the Fat Lady already. He had barely noticed where his feet were carrying his. It was also a surprise to see that she was not alone in her frame. The wizened witch who had flitted into her neighbor's painting when Josh had joined the champions downstairs was now sitting smugly beside the Fat Lady. She must have dashed through every picture lining seven staircases to reach here before him. Both she and the Fat Lady were looking down at her with the keenest interest.

"Well, well, well," said the Fat Lady, "Violet's just told me everything. Who's just been chosen as school champion, then?"

"Balderdash," said Josh dully.

"It most certainly isn't!" said the pale witch indignantly.

"No, no, Vi, it's the password," said the Fat Lady soothingly, and she swung forward on her hinges to let Josh into the common room.

The blast of noise that met Josh's ears when the portrait opened almost knocked him backward. Next thing he knew, he was being wrenched inside the common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom were screaming, applauding, and whistling.

"You should've told us you'd entered!" bellowed Fred; he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed.

"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George.

"I didn't," Josh said. "I don't know how -"

But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; "Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor -

"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match for Harry, Joshua!" shrieked Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers.

"We've got food, Josh, come and have some -"

"I'm not hungry, I had enough at the feast -"

But nobody wanted to hear that he wasn't hungry; nobody wanted to hear that he hadn't put her name in the goblet; not one single person seemed to have noticed that he wasn't at all in the mood to celebrate… Lee had unearthed a Gryffindor banner from somewhere, and he insisted on draping it around Josh like a cloak.

Josh couldn't get away; whenever he tried to sidle over to the staircase up to the dormitories, the crowd around his closed ranks, forcing another butterbeer on him, stuffing crisps and peanuts into him hands… Everyone wanted to know how he had done it, how he had tricked Dumbledore's Age Line and managed to get his name into the goblet…

"I didn't," he said, over and over again, "I don't know how it happened."

But for all the notice anyone took, he might just as well not have answered at all.

"I'm tired!" Josh bellowed finally, after nearly half an hour. "No, seriously, George - I'm going to bed -"

He wanted more than anything to find Harry and the others, to find a bit of sanity, but none of them seemed to be in the common room. Insisting that he needed to sleep, and almost flattening the little Creevey brothers as they attempted to waylay him at the foot of the stairs, Josh managed to shake everyone off and climb up to the dormitory as fast as he could.

To his great relief, he found Ron was lying on his bedin the otherwise empty dorimtory, still fully dressed.

He looked up when Josh slammed the door behind him.

"Where've you been?" Josh said. "Where's Harry and Neville?"

"Oh hello," said Rom.

Ron was looking at him, something between a smile and a frown on her face.

"Congratulations," he said as Josh struggled to get the banner off from around his neck, tossing the banner over by the wall.

"What d'you mean, congratulations?" said Josh, staring at Ron.

"Well… no one else got across the Age Line," said Ron. "Not even Fred and George. What did you use - did you steal Harry's Invisibility Cloak?"

"The Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have got me over that line," said Josh slowly.

"Oh right," said Ron. "I thought you might've told us if it was the cloak… because it would've covered enough of us, wouldn't it?"

"Listen," said Josh. "I didn't put my name in that goblet. Someone else must've done it."

"Sure, Josh," Ron said. "Or was it me imagining that you did want to enter the tournament if you could, and you did find a way but you just didn't tell us."

"Ron, I didn't want to enter, really. Someone must have put my name in."

"Well, why would someone put _your_ name in the Goblet?"

"I don't know," said Josh.

"It's okay, you know, you can tell me the truth," Ron said. "If you don't want everyone else to know, fine, but I don't know why you're bothering to lie, you didn't get into trouble for it, did you? That friend of the Fat Lady's, that Violet, she's already told us all Dumbledore's letting you enter. A thousand Galleons prize money, eh? And you don't have to do end-of-year tests either…Just tell, me. Was it Dark Magic? If you tell me, I won't tell on you..."

"I didn't put my name in that goblet!" Josh said, starting to feel angry and annoyed. "Why don't you believe me?"

"Believe you!? Ha!" Ron bellowed. "Where should I start, Josh? Huh? Let's see. You hang out with Snakes, You think Malfoy is funny, You're from a dark family. Oh, and you're insane!"

"I'm am so tired of your stupid judging attitude. You are so stupid, Ron," Josh replied, moving over to his bed.

"I'm not stupid, Josh," Ron replied.

"Oh, yeah you're doing a real good impression it," Josh snapped.

"You're just blind," Ron muttered, shutting the hangings around his four-poster. Just then, Harry and Neville entered the dorm.

"Hey Josh!" Neville said cheerily.

"I don't want to talk about!" Josh growled out at the two, and then walked over to his bed, wrenched the hangings shut around his four-poster, thinking about one of the few people he'd been sure would believe him, hopefully.

**A/N: Josh is a Champion, which raises some supsicion. And why was his name put in the Goblet of Fire and Not Harry's? You'll see, later on, later later later on.**


	17. Wand Weighing

Chapter 17: Wand Weighing

When Josh woke up on Sunday morning, it took him a moment to remember why he felt so miserable and worried. Then the memory of the previous night rolled over him. He sat up and ripped back the curtains of his own four-poster, only to find that the other beds were empty, the others had obviously gone down to breakfast.

Josh slowly dressed and went down the spiral staircase into the common room. The moment he appeared, the people who had already finished breakfast broke into applause again. The prospect of going down into the Great Hall and facing the rest of the Gryffindors, all treating him like some sort of hero, like Harry, was not inviting; it was that, however, or stay here and allow himself to be cornered by some weirdo fans. Josh walked resolutely over to the portrait hole, pushed it open, climbed out of it, and found himself face-to-face with Hermione, Harry, and Neville.

"Hello," Hermione said, holding up a stack of toast, which she was carrying in a napkin. "We brought you this…want to go for a walk?"

"Actually," Josh said, grabbing some of the toast. "I do, but by myself."

The others nodded, and Josh continued downstairs, crossed the entrance hall quickly without looking in at the Great Hall, and was soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored, reflected blackly in the water. It was a chilly morning, and he kept moving, munching on his toast.

"Josh!"

Josh sighed, knowing it was Daphne. He stopped and turned to see that not only was it Daphne, but Tracey and Blaise were there too.

"What happened last night?" Daphne asked. "We were all shocked when your name appeared out of the Goblet."

"Yeah, how'd you do that by the way?" Blaise asked with a smirk. "Was it easy?"

"I didn't enter," Josh replied.

"Sure," Blaise said, skeptically. "I get it," he added, looking around. "Don't want anyone to know how you did it. A magician never reveals his secrets."

"I didn't enter!" Josh repeated in anger. "I seriously didn't, Blaise. I was as shocked as you were when my name flew out of the Goblet."

"Alright, Josh, you say you didn't enter, we believe you," Daphne spoke, stopping further argument between the two boys, though it looked as Blaise didn't believe what Josh was saying.

"Yeah, so what happened after you left the Great Hall, last night?" Tracey asked. Josh sighed and told the others exactly what had happened after he had left the Gryffindor table the night before.

To his immense relief, Daphne, Blaise, and Tracey accepted his story without question.

"Well, of course we knew you hadn't entered yourself," Daphne said when he'd finished telling them about the scene in the chamber off the Hall. "The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name!"

"But the question is, who did put it in? Because Moody may be right, Josh…I don't think any student could have done it… they'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's Age Line."

"Or someone who's a pure genius," Blaise said, and then pointed at Josh. "Like Josh."

"Are you serious?" Josh spoke. "You think I'd be stupid enough to enter this tournament?"

"Not stupid, just - "

"Oh, shut up, Blaise," Josh growled. "How many time do I have to tell you I didn't enter?"

"Until you tell me the truth," Blaise spoke, as the girls watched them argue back and forth.

"I am telling you the truth!" Josh bellowed. "Quit being stupid and open your ears! I DID NOT PUT MY NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE!"

"Come on, Josh. Quite kidding yourself and just tell me, I'm your best mate."

Josh growled. "You are such an Idiot!" he said, walking away.

"Yeah!? Well, You're an arse, Black! You and the stupid Gryffndors," Blaise shouted, and left in the opposite direction. Tracey and Daphne shared a look and the followed after Josh.

"Don't worry about him, Josh," Tracey said despairingly as the two girls caught up to Josh. "He's just jealous!"

"Jealous?" Josh said incredulously. "Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"

"Look," said Daphne patiently, "it's always you or Potter or Weasley or Granger who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it's not your faults," she added quickly, seeing Josh open him mouth furiously. "I know you guys don't ask for it… but - well - you know, Blaise does like going on adventures and having fun, I mean you know how mad he was when you didn't hang out with us last term or didn't say goodbye or how you left him out of the loop about your secrets…"

"Great," said Josh bitterly. "Really great. Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it being the Heir of Slytherin, having the thought of having to live up to Salazar Slytherin or the fact the my father is Sirius Black and now everyone knows it now, and everyone now looks at me weird..."

"We're not telling him anything," Daphne said shortly. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."

"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" Josh growled so loudly that several owls in a nearby tree took flight in alarm. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or -"

"That's not funny," Daphne said quietly. "That's not funny at all." She was looking extrememly anxious. "Joshua, I've been thinking - you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"

"Yeah, give Ron or Blaise, which ever I run into first, and give them a good kick up the -"

"Write to Sirius." Daphne said simply. Hermione brought some parchment and a quill out with her -"

"Come off it," said Josh, looking around to check that they couldn't be overheard, but the grounds were quite deserted. "He only came back to the country just because Harry wrote about his stupid scar twinging. All he cares about is the Famous Harry Potter. Why would he care about me?"

"Because he's your father," Tracey spoke up.

"Exactly, and he'd want you to tell him," Daphne said sternly. "He's bound to find out anyway."

"How?"

"Joshua, this isn't going to be kept quiet," Daphne said, very seriously. "This tournament's famous, and you're the fourth champion and they're only suppose to be three. I'll be really surprised if there isn't anything in the Daily Prophet about you competing… and Sirius would rather hear it from you, I know he would."

"Okay, fine, I'll write to him," said Josh, throwing his last piece of toast into the lake. The three of them stood and watched it floating there for a moment, before a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface. Then they returned to the castle.

"Whose owl am I going to use?" Josh said as they climbed the stairs. "He told me not to use Shadow again."

"Borrow one of the school owls, anyone can use them," said Tracey.

They went up to the Owlery. Surprisingly, Daphne gave Josh a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink, then she and Tracey strolled around the long lines of perches, looking at all the different owls.

_Dear Sirius,_

_You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here you are – I don't know if you've heard, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn't, I swear. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff_

Josh paused at this point, thinking. He had an urge to say something about the large weight of anxiety that seemed to have settled inside his chest since last night, but he couldn't think how to translate this into words, and thought Sirius wouldn't care, so he simply dipped the quill back into the ink bottle and wrote,

_Hope you're okay, and I'm fine –_

_Josh_

"Finished," he told Daphne and Tracey, getting to his feet and brushing straw off his robes. At this, Shadow fluttered down onto his shoulder and held out his leg.

"I can't use you," Josh told him, looking around for the school owls. "I've got to use one of these."

Shadow gave a very loud hoot and took off so suddenly that her talons cut into his shoulder. He kept his back to Josh all the time he was tying his letter to the leg of a large barn owl. When the barn owl had flown off, Josh reached out to stroke Shadow, but he clicked his beak furiously and soared up into the rafters out of reach.

"First Ron, then Blaise, now you," Josh said angrily. "This isn't my fault!"

If Josh had thought that matters would improve once everyone got used to the idea of him being a champion, the following day showed him how mistaken he was. He could no longer avoid the rest of the school once he was back at lessons - and it was clear that the rest of the school, just like the Gryffindors, thought Josh had entered himself for the tournament. Unlike the Gryffindors, however, they did not seem impressed. Not only that, now that everyone knew who Josh truly was, they would watch him, anticipation if he would follow in his parents' footsteps.

The Hufflepuffs, who were usually on excellent terms with the Gryffindors, had turned remarkably cold toward the whole lot of them. One Herbology lesson was enough to demonstrate this. It was plain that the Hufflepuffs felt that Josh had stolen their champion's glory; a feeling exacerbated, perhaps, by the fact that Hufflepuff House very rarely got any glory, and that Cedric was one of the few who had ever given them any, having beaten Gryffindor once at Quidditch. Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch Fletchley, with whom Josh normally got on very well, did not talk to him even though they were repotting Bouncing Bulbs at the same tray - though they did laugh rather unpleasantly when one of the Bouncing Bulbs wriggled free from Josh's grip and smacked him hard in the face. Ron wasn't speaking to him either, and nor was Harry, but that was only because Ron would pull him away when Josh would try to talk to Harry. Though he still had Hermione and Neville to talk to.

Josh thought even Professor Sprout seemed distant with her - but then, she was Head of Hufflepuff House.

Josh would have been looking forward to seeing Hagrid under normal circumstances, but Care of Magical Creatures meant seeing certain Slytherins too – the first time he would come face-to-face with some of them since becoming champion.

Predictably, Nott arrived at Hagrid's cabin with a familiar sneer firmly in place.

"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," Nott said to Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle the moment he got within earshot of Josh. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer…half the Triwizard champions have died…how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Black? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."

Crabbe and Goyle guffawed sycophantically but Malfoy stayed quiet, expressionless, but Nott had to stop there, because Hagrid emerged from the back of his cabin balancing a teetering tower of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended Skrewt. To the class's horror, Hagrid proceeded to explain that the reason the skrewts had been killing one another was an excess of pent-up energy, and that the solution would be for each student to fix a leash on a skrewt and take it for a short walk. The only good thing about this plan was that it distracted Nott completely.

"Take this thing for a walk?" Nott repeated in disgust, staring into one of the boxes. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"

"Roun' the middle," said Hagrid, demonstrating. "Er - yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like. Josh - you come here an' help me with this big one…

Hagrid's real intention, however, was to talk to Josh away from the rest of the class. He waited until everyone else had set off with their skrewts, then turned to Josh and said, very seriously, "So - yer competin', Josh. In the tournament. School champion."

"One of the champions," Josh corrected him.

Hagrid's beetle-black eyes looked very anxious under his wild eyebrows.

"No idea who put yeh in fer it, Josh?"

"You believe I didn't do it, then?" said JOsh, concealing with difficulty the rush of gratitude he felt at Hagrid's words.

"Course I do," Hagrid grunted. "Yeh say it wasn' you, an' I believe yeh - an' Dumbledore believes yer, an' all."

"Wish I knew who did do it," Josh said bitterly.

The pair of them looked out over the lawn; the class was widely scattered now, and all in great difficulty. The skrewts were now over three feet long, and extremely powerful. No longer shell-less and colorless, they had developed a kind of thick, grayish, shiny armor. They looked like a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs - but still without recognisable heads or eyes. They had become immensely strong and very hard to control.

"Look like they're havin' fun, don' they?" Hagrid said happily. Josh assumed he was talking about the skrewts, because his classmates certainly weren't; every now and then, with an alarming bang, one of the skrewts' ends would explode, causing it to shoot forward several yards, and more than one person was being dragged along on their stomach, trying desperately to get back on their feet.

"Ah, I don' know, Josh," Hagrid sighed suddenly, looking back down at him with a worried expression on his face. "School champion… everythin' seems ter happen ter Harry, doesn' it? And yer always helpin' 'im out. But not this time. This time it's you, and not Harry. Gotta be scary, righ'? "

Josh didn't answer. Yes, this time it was him in the middle of all the danger and not Harry, not Ron, nor Blaise, but him.

The next few days were some of Josh's worst at Hogwarts. The closest he had ever come to feeling like this had been during those months, in his second year, when a large part of the school had suspected him and Harry of attacking their fellow students, expecially after he was there when Hermione and Peneolope were petrified.

He could understand the Hufflepuffs' attitude, even if he didn't like it; they had their own champion to support. He expected nothing less than vicious insults from some of the Slytherins - he was a Gryffindor and there were always a rivalry between Gryffindors and Slytherins. But he had hoped the Ravenclaws might have found it in their hearts to support him as much as Cedric. He was wrong, however. Most Ravenclaws seemed to think that he had been desperate to earn himself some fame by tricking the goblet into accepting his name, thinking him to redeem the Black name. The only Ravenclaws that remained on his side were William and a strange blonde girl he had seen here and there. He had ran into her one day, and she new him by name, saying he wasn't lieing and believed in him.

Then there was the fact that Cedric looked the part of a champion so much more than he did. Exceptionally handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, and gray eyes, it was hard to say who was receiving more admiration these days, Cedric or Viktor Krum.

Josh actually saw the same sixth-year girls who had been so keen to get Krum's autograph begging Cedric to sign their school bags one lunchtime.

Meanwhile there was no reply from Sirius, Shadow was refusing to come anywhere near him, Trelawney had been predicting his death as much as Harry's, and for the first time, he did so badly at Summoning Charms in Professor Flitwick's class that he was given extra homework - the only person to get any, apart from Neville. Even Ron mastered it before him and when he saw how much he was struggling, he just laughed.

"It's really not that difficult, Josh," Hermione tried to reassure him as they left Flitwick's class - she had been making objects zoom across the room to her all lesson, as though she were some sort of weird magnet for board dusters, wastepaper baskets, and lunascopes. "You just weren't concentrating properly -"

"Wonder why that is," said Josh darkly as Cedric Diggory walked past, surrounded by a large group of simpering girls, all of whom looked at Josh as though she were a particularly large Blast-Ended Skrewt. He also saw Cedric glance at him. "Still - never mind, eh? Double Potions to look forward to this afternoon..." he said dryly.

Double Potions was always a horrible experience, but these days it was nothing short of torture. Being shut in a dungeon for an hour and a half with Snape and the Slytherins, all of whom seemed determined to punish Josh as much as possible for daring to become school champion, was about the most unpleasant thing he could imagine. He had already struggled through one Friday's worth, with Hermione sitting next to him intoning "ignore them, ignore them, ignore them" under her breath, and He couldn't see why today should be any better. When Snape instulted Josh's potion, he was actually right. Josh was doing horrible.

When Josh, Neville, and Hermione arrived at Snape's dungeon after lunch, they found some of the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. For one wild moment Josh thought they were S.P.E.W. badges - then he saw that they all bore the same message, in luminous red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit underground passage:

SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY—THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!

"Like them, Black?" said Rosalae loudly as Josh approached. "And this isn't all they do - look!"

He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green: BLACK STINKS!

The Slytherins howled with laughter, as Blaise, Tracey, and Daphne approached wondering what was going on. The other Slytherins pressed their badges too, until the message BLACK STINKS was shining brightly all around Josh. Josh's clenched his teeth and his hands into fists.

"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Nott and his gang of Slytherin friends, who were laughing harder than anyone, "really witty."

"Want one, Granger?" said Nott, holding out a badge to Hermione. "Or even you, Longbottom?I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want Mudbloods or Squibs sliming it up."

Some of the anger Josh had been feeling for days and days seemed to burst through a dam in his chest. He had reached for his wand before he'd thought what he was doing. People all around them scrambled out of the way, backing down the corridor.

"Joshua!" Hermione said warningly.

"Go on, then, Black," Nott said quietly, drawing out his own wand. Crabbe and Goyle followed suit. "No one's not here to look after you now- do it, if you've got the guts-"

For a split second, they looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.

"_Furnunculus_!" Josh yelled.

"_Densaugeo_!" screamed Nott.

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles — Josh's hit Goyle in the face, and Nott's hit Hermione.

Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up - Hermione, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth.

"Hermione!"

Ron had hurried forward to see what was wrong with her; Josh turned and saw Ron dragging Hermione's hand away from her face, while Harry stood next to them. It wasn't a pretty sight. Hermione's front teeth - already larger than average - were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated, past her bottom lip, toward her chin - panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry.

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.

Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamoured to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy, who had been standing against the wall, and said, "Explain."

"Black and Nott attacked one another, sir -"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Josh shouted, realizing he said the same thing Malfoy said.

"- and Black's spell hit Goyle - look -"

Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.

"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.

"Nott got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"

He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."

Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.

It was lucky, perhaps, that Harry, Josh, Ron and even Daphne started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, however.

"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention for Potter, Black, and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."

Josh's ears were ringing. The injustice of it made him want to curse Snape into a thousand slimy pieces. He passed Snape, walked with Ivy to the back of the dungeon, and slammed her bag down onto the table. Ron and Harry were shaking with anger too - for a moment, it felt as though everything was back to normal between them, but then Ron turned and sat down with Dean and Seamus instead, leaving Josh alone at his table with.

On the other side of the dungeon, Nott turned his back on Snape and pressed his badge, smirking. BLACK STINKS flashed once more across the room. Josh glanced at Malfoy and noticed that he wasn't wearing a badge which was very strange.

Josh sat there staring at Snape as the lesson began, picturing horrific things happening to him… He even pictured using Cruciatus Curse… he'd have Snape flat on his back like that spider, jerking and twitching, for hurting Hermione.

"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at them all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one…"

Snape's eyes met Harry's, and Josh knew what was coming. Snape was going to poison Harry. Josh imagined picking up his cauldron, and sprinting to the front of the class, and bringing it down on Snape's greasy head.

And then a knock on the dungeon door burst in on Josh's thoughts.

It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room, beaming at Harry, and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"Yes?" said Snape curtly.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Josh Black upstairs." Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.

"Mr. Black has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "He will come upstairs when this class is finished."

Colin went pink.

"Sir - sir, Mr. Bagman wants him," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs…"

"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Black, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please, sir - he's got to take his things with him," squeaked Colin. "All the champions…"

"Very well!" said Snape. "Black - take your bag and get out of my sight!"

Josh swung his bag over his shoulder, got up, and headed for the door. As he walked through the Slytherin desks, BLACK STINKS flashed at him from every direction.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Joshua?" said Colin, starting to speak the moment Josh had closed the dungeon door behind them. "Isn't it, though? You being champion?"

"Yeah, really amazing," said Josh dryly as they set off toward the steps into the entrance hall. "What do they want photos for, Colin?"

"The Daily Prophet, I think!"

"Great," said Josh dully. "Exactly what I need. Publicity."

"Good luck!" said Colin when they had reached the right room. Josh knocked on the door and entered.

He was in a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a witch Josh had never seen before, who was wearing magenta robes. He instantly got a bad feeling about the witch.

Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than Josh had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light, which made Josh stumble a little.

A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye.

Bagman suddenly spotted Josh, got up quickly, and bounded forward.

"Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Joshua, in you come… nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"

"Wand weighing?" Josh repeated nervously.

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photoshoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet…"

"Maybe not that small, Ludo," said Rita Skeeter, her eyes on Josh.

Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jewelled spectacles. The thick fingers clutching her crocodile-skin handbag ended in two-inch nails, painted crimson.

"I wonder if I could have a little word with Joshua before we start?" she said to Bagman, but still gazing fixedly at Josh. "The youngest champion, you know… to add a bit of colour?"

"Certainly!" cried Bagman. "That is - if Joshua has no objection?"

"Er - I don't want -" said Josh.

"Lovely," said Rita Skeeter, and in a second, her scarlet-taloned fingers had Josh's upper arm in a surprisingly strong grip, and she was steering him out of the room again and opening a nearby door.

"We don't want to be in there with all that noise," she said. "Let's see… ah, yes, this is nice and cosy."

It was a broom cupboard. Josh stared at her.

"Come along, dear - that's right - lovely," said Rita Skeeter again, perching herself precariously upon an upturned bucket, pushing Josh down onto a cardboard box, and closing the door, throwing them into darkness. "Let's see now…"

She unsnapped her crocodile-skin handbag and pulled out a handful of candles, which she lit with a wave of her wand and magicked into midair, so that they could see what they were doing.

"You won't mind, Joshua, if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally…"

"Er - "

Rita Skeeter's smile widened. Josh counted three gold teeth. She reached again into her crocodile bag and drew out a long acid-green quill and a roll of parchment, which she stretched out between them on a crate of Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover. She put the tip of the green quill into her mouth, sucked it for a moment with apparent relish, then placed it upright on the parchment, where it stood balanced on its point, quivering slightly.

"I think I will use it," she said. "It makes this whole thing a lot easier. Testing… my name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter."

Josh looked down quickly at the quill. The moment Rita Skeeter had spoken, the green quill had started to scribble, skidding across the parchment:

_Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, who's savage quill has punctured many inflated reputations – _

"Lovely," said Rita Skeeter, yet again, and she ripped the top piece of parchment off, crumpled it up, and stuffed it into her handbag. Now she leaned toward Josh and said, "So, Joshua…what made you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?"

"Er -" said Josh, but he was distracted by the quill. Even though he wasn't speaking, it was dashing across the parchment, and in its wake he could make out a fresh sentence:

___A pair of grey eyes, distant of his present happenings because of his fugitive father and jailed mother. , troubles the mind of Joshua Black - _

"Ignore the quill, Joshua," said Rita Skeeter firmly. Reluctantly Josh looked up at her instead. "Now — why did you decide to enter the tournament, Joshua?"

"I didn't," Josh said. "I don't know how my name got into the Goblet of Fire. I didn't put it in there nor did I want to compete."

Rita Skeeter raised one heavily pencilled eyebrow.

"Come now, Joshua, there's no need to be scared of getting into trouble. We all know you shouldn't really have entered at all. But don't worry about that. Our readers love a rebel."

"But I didn't enter," Josh repeated. "I don't know who -"

"How do you feel about the tasks ahead?" said Rita Skeeter. "Excited? Nervous?"

"I haven't really thought… yeah, nervous, I suppose," Josh said. His insides squirmed uncomfortably as he spoke.

"Champions have died in the past, haven't they?" said Rita Skeeter briskly. "Have you thought about that at all?"

"Well… they say it's going to be a lot safer this year," said Josh. "But I've had lots of danger before so, I think I could handle it!"

"A bit cocky, are we?" Rita Skeeter said.

The quill whizzed across the parchment between them, back and forward as though it were skating.

"Of course, you have looked death in the face before, haven't you? Once or twice?" said Rita Skeeter, watching him closely. "How would you say that's affected you?"

"Er," Josh said, yet again.

"Do you think that the trauma of your parents might have made you keen to prove yourself? To live up to your name or redeem it? Do you think that perhaps you were tempted to enter the Triwizard Tournament because - "

"I didn't enter," Josh said, starting to feel irritated.

"How does it make you feel that your father is a murderer, and your mother, who is in sitting in Azkaban for helping a mass murderer escape?" said Rita Skeeter.

"Um," said Josh.

"How do you think they'd feel if they knew you were competing in the Triwizard Tournament? Proud? Worried? Angry?"

Josh was feeling really annoyed now. How on earth was she to know how his parents would feel if they were absent? He could feel Rita Skeeter watching him very intently. Frowning, he avoided her gaze and looked down at words the quill had just written:

_Tears fill those startlingly grey eyes as our conversation turns to the parents, one mad with rage, the other losing her happiness and hope to Azkaban guards._

"I don't have tears in my eyes!" Josh said loudly.

Before Rita Skeeter could say a word, the door of the broom cupboard was pulled open. Josh looked around, blinking in the bright light. Albus Dumbledore stood there, looking down at both of them, squashed into the cupboard.

"Dumbledore!" cried Rita Skeeter, with every appearance of delight - but Josh noticed that her quill and the parchment had suddenly vanished from the box of Magical Mess Remover, and Rita's clawed fingers were hastily snapping shut the clasp of her crocodile-skin bag.

"How are you?" she said, standing up and holding out one of her large, mannish hands to Dumbledore. "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference?"

"Enchantingly nasty," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat." Josh raised an eyebrow.

Rita Skeeter didn't look remotely abashed.

"I was just making the point that some of your ideas are a little old-fashioned, Dumbledore, and that many wizards in the street -"

"I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita," said Dumbledore, with a courteous bow and a smile, "but I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands is about to start, and it cannot take place if one of our champions is hidden in a broom cupboard."

Very glad to get away from Rita Skeeter, Josh hurried back into the room. The other champions were now sitting in chairs near the door, and Josh sat down quickly next to Cedric, hooking up at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting - Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. Crouch, and Ludo Bagman. Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner; Josh saw her slip the parchment out of her bag again, spread it on her knee, suck the end of the Quick-Quotes Quill, and place it once more on the parchment.

"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

Josh looked around, and with a jolt of surprise saw an old wizard with large, pale eyes standing quietly by the window. Josh had met Mr. Ollivander before - he was the wand-maker from whom he had bought his own wand over three years ago in Diagon Alley, that same day where he met Daphne.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room.

Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr. Ollivander and handed him her wand.

"Hmm…" he said.

He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it chose to his eyes and examined it carefully.

"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches… inflexible… rosewood… and containing… dear me…"

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzer's."

_So Fleur was part veela, _thought Josh.

"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands… however, to each his own, and if this suits you…"

Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered, "_Orchideous_!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.

"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand. "Mr. Diggory, you next." Fleur glided back to her seat, smiling at Cedric as he passed her.

"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn… must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches…ash…pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition… You treat it regularly?"

"Polished it last night," said Cedric, grinning.

Josh looked down at his own wand. He could see finger marks all over it. He gathered a fistful of robe from his knee and tried to rub it clean surreptitiously. Several gold sparks shot out of the end of it, surprising Josh. Fleur Delacour gave him a very patronizing look, and she desisted.

Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then said, "Mr. Krum, if you please."

Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Hmm," said Mr. Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I… however…"

He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.

"Yes… hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees… quite rigid… ten and a quarter inches… _Avis_!"

The hornbeam wand let off a blast hike a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.

"Good," said Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand. "Which leaves… Mr. Black."

Josh got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr. Ollivander. He handed over her wand.

"Aaaah, yes," said Mr. Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. Another one of mine, I believe." Josh nodded. "I do recall...Dragon Heart-string, a fiesty Horntail, if I remember correctly...Eleven inches...Oak...In great condition..." Suddenly, he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Jos.

"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You may go back to your lessons now - or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end-"

Feeling that at last something had gone right today, Josh got up to leave, but the man with the black camera jumped up and cleared his throat.

"Photos, Dumbledore, photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "All the judges and champions, what do you think, Rita?"

"Er - yes, let's do those first," said Rita Skeeter, whose eyes were upon Josh again. "And then perhaps some individual shots."

The photographs took a long time. Madame Maxime cast everyone else into shadow wherever she stood, and the photographer couldn't stand far enough back to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit while everyone else stood around her. Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee around his finger to give it an extra curl; Krum skulked, half-hidden, at the back of the group. The photographer seemed keenest to get Fleur at the front, but Rita Skeeter kept hurrying forward and dragging Josh into greater prominence. Then she insisted on separate shots of all the champions. At last, they were free to go. Josh went down to dinner. Hermione wasn't there - Josh supposed she was still in the hospital wing having her teeth fixed. Harry, Ron, and Neville were there but only Neville ate with him, and he told him what had happened.

Josh then returned to Gryffindor Tower, thinking of all the extra work on Summoning Charms he had to do. Up in the dormitory, he came across Harry.

"Hey, Josh," Harry greeted.

"Hey," Josh greeted back a little solemnly.

"You've had an owl," Harry then said, pointing at Josh's pillow. The school barn owl was waiting for him there.

"Oh - right," said Josh.

"And we've got to do your detentions tomorrow night, Snape's dungeon," Harry spoke.

Josh nodded then walked towards his bed, not looking at Ron who just passed him from the bathroom. For a moment, Josh considered going after him - he wasn't sure whether he wanted to talk to him or hit him, though the last one seemed quite appealing - but the lure of Sirius's answer was too strong. Josh strode over to the barn owl and took the letter off its leg, and unrolled it.

_Joshua -_

_I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted - we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone with Harry by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?_

_I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself while you're around Dumbledore and Moody. I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose._

_Be on the watch, Josh. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can._

_Sirius_


	18. Back to the Chamber

Chapter 18: Back to the Chamber

The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Josh over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker. The shock of finding himself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing him had started to sink in. The first task was drawing steadily nearer; he felt as though it were crouching ahead of him like some horrific monster, barring his path. He had never suffered nerves like these. Josh was finding it hard to think about the future at all; he felt as though his whole life had been heading up to, and would finish with, the first task.

Admittedly, he didn't see how Sirius was going to make him feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people, but the mere sight of a friendly face would be something at the moment. Josh wrote back to Sirius saying that he and Harry would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested; and he, Harry, Neville, and Hermione spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that - Filch would skin them alive.

In the meantime, life became even worse for Josh within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Josh. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Josh; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Josh, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all, which Josh thought was pretty funny.

The article had appeared ten days ago, and Josh still got a sick, burning feeling of shame in him stomach every time he thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported him saying an awful lot of things that he couldn't remember ever saying in his life, let alone in that broom cupboard.

_I suppose I get my strength from my mother, and my best friends, but not my deadbeat father. I know my mum would be very proud of me if she could see me now…__Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about mother, mostly, I'm not ashamed to admit it…As for my father, I have never wept for him and never will. He's the wrost person ever...I hate him...__I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because I know my mother prays for my safety…_

But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming her "er's" into long, sickly sentences: She had interviewed other people about him too and had written a piece on Harry as well.

_Josh has at last found lots of love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Seamus Finnigan, says that Josh is rarely seen out of the company of a few girls like Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Josh, is one of the top students in the school, Daphne Greengrass, a Pure-Blood student who is also a top student, and a Half-blood student, Tracey Davis. Mr. Finnigan also sees Josh also fawning over the French Champion, Fleur Delacour._

From the moment the article had appeared, Josh had had to endure people — Slytherins, mainly — quoting it at him as they passed and making sneering comments.

"Want a hanky, Black, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"

"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Black?"

"Aww, has little Black found love? But which one will he choose?"

"Whose heart are you going to break, Black?"

"Yeah, like Fleur'd give you the time of day!"

"Thought you'd have more taste than Granger or Davis! Then again, I suppose they're is the best you can do..."

"Hey - Joshua!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Josh found himself shouting as he wheeled around in the corridor, having had just about enough. "I've just been crying my eyes out over my jailed mum and mad dad, and I was just off to do a bit more…"

"No - it was just - you dropped your quill."

It was Mandy Brocklehurst, a Ravenclaw student in his year, a girl Josh thought was one of the prettiest girls in his year, one he had thought about once or twice. Josh felt the colour rising in his face.

"Oh - right - sorry," he muttered, taking the quill back.

"Er… good luck on Tuesday, Josh," she said, her dark hair tied in a ponytail, blinking her green-blue eyes. "I really hope you do well."

Which left Josh feel extremely stupid.

Daphne, and Tracey had come in for their fair share of unpleasantness too, but they hadn't yet started yelling at innocent bystanders; in fact, Josh was full of admiration for the way they were handling the situation.

And Non-Slytherin students would follow Tracey and Daphne and tell them to stay away from Josh, and that he wasn't good enough for any one of them. Tracey did have to keep Daphne back from attacking a young 3rd year Gryffindor. Hermione too was getting some unwanted attention, just like the Slytherin girls.

"Stunningly pretty? Her?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Hermione after Rita's article had appeared. "What was she judging against - a chipmunk?"

"Ignore it," Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. "Just ignore it, Joshua."

But Josh couldn't ignore it.

Blaise hadn't spoken to Josh at all since their argument on the grounds. Josh had half hoped they would make things up sometimed before the first task happened.

Hermione, Daphne, and Tracey were furious with the pair of them; they went from one to the other, trying to force them to talk to each other, but Josh was adamant: he would talk to Blaise again only if Blaise admitted that Josh hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire and apologised for not believing him.

"I didn't start this," Josh said stubbornly. "It's his problem."

"You miss him!" Daphne said impatiently. "And I know he misses you -"

"Miss him?" said Josh, cutting Daphne off. "I don't miss him…"

But this was a downright lie.

Josh still hadn't mastered Summoning Charms; he seemed to have developed something of a block about them, and both Daphne and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. One or the other of the girls consequently spent a lot of time pouring over books during their lunchtimes, which was making Josh sick of books.

Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot too, and Josh wondered what he was up to. Was he studying, or was he looking for things to help him through the first task?

Hermione often complained about Krum being there - not that he ever bothered them - but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting.

"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. "They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky-Faint thing -"

"Wronski Feint," said Josh, through gritted teeth, then sighed. "I need a break," he said closing his books and then left the library.

Josh began walking down the corridor and after half an hour, he found himself on the second floor, standing in front of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He walked over to the door and opened it. He walked inside towards the sinks, looking around seeing that Myrtle wasn't there. Josh moved over to the sink with a snake carved on the side of one of the copper taps.

Josh looked at the snake, willing himself to believe it was alive. "_Open up,_" Josh hissed, and at once, the tap glowed with a brilliant white and began to shake. Next second, the top of the sinks flew up, and the sinks seperated a little, and the sink with the snake on the tap sunk in the ground, and there behind the sinks was a tunnel leading down, leading down into the Chamber of Secrets.

"So, this is where the Chamber of Secrets is," spoke a drawing voice from behind Josh.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Josh said, turning to face Malfoy who was leaning against the door.

"A lot, actually," Malfoy said, pushing off the door and began walking towards Josh. "I want a Dragon, I want a flying carpet, I want a very powerful and unstoppable wand," Draco continued and moved past Josh and looked down the slimy tunnel.

"Yeah, I get it," Josh said. "You want a lot of things. Now, could you please leave. I have to close this up."

"Already? I thought you were going to go down it," Draco said. "It looks a little slimy, but I think I'd like to see what's down there."

"Well, go ahead then," Josh said, waving his arm. Draco looked at Josh and smirked.

"I'm not stupid, Black," He said, crossing his arms. "Once I drop down there, I know you're going to close the entryway."

"You know me so well, Malfoy," Josh said dryly.

"Well, I have to know my family," Draco said, glancing down the tunnel.

"We're not family," Josh hissed through his teeth.

"Actually," Draco said, "Your Grandmother and my Grandfather were siblings."

"Sure, Malfoy," Josh said, shaking his head, and not believing Draco.

"So, are we going down, or what?" Draco asked, turning to look at Josh.

"We?" Josh repeated with a raised eyebrow, glancing at Draco, rolled his eyes, then moved near the entrance. "There is no we, only me and some pompous arse. And no we're not going in, I'm gonna - Ah!" Josh yelped as Draco pushed him down the tunnel. Draco smirked and then he dropped down the tunnel, following Josh.

Josh once again rushed down, the slimy, dark slide, seeing the other pipes branching off in all directions, twisting and turning, sloping steeply downward. Behind him, he could hear Draco, thudding slightly and but he heard no wailing like Ron had done a year and a half ago.

And then, Josh hit the ground, the pipe leveled out, and he yelped out with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of the stoned tunnel. Josh stood up, covered in slime, then stood aside wiping himself off as Draco then came whizzing out of the pipe, and sliding next to Josh.

"Gross," Draco said, looking at his slimy clothes, but then shrugged. "Oh well, I'll just spend some extra time in the shower." Josh growled and moved over to Draco and picked him up by his robes.

"What the hell is wrong with you Malfoy?" he growled, then pushed Draco back to the ground. "I have the half of mind to jinx you for pushing me down the tunnel."

"Cool off, Josh," Draco said, sitting up and Josh walked away. "I was just curious, is all," he said, standing up, then added in a mumble, "I just didn't want come down here alone."

"Of all the places to be stuck, it had to be the Chamber with Malfoy," Josh spoke, moving over to the wall of rocks that had fallen last time he was here. Draco wiped his chin and followed Josh.

"Come on, Josh," Draco said. "We'll just get out the same way you got out last time."

"How'd you - " but Josh stopped, "Nevermind. And the way we got out last time wsa because a Phoenix pulled is back to the top. Now, do you have a Phoenix?"

"Not yet," Malfoy replied, staring at the rock wall, causing Josh to roll his eyes.

"Ponce," he muttered.

"So, we must be miles under the school," Draco said, squinting at the dark, slimy walls. "Under the lake, by my guess. So, how are we getting through this wall? That hole looks too small for us." Josh looked at the hole him and the other Gryffindors had crawled through at the end of Second year. It was small, too big for Josh and Draco.

"I have an idea," Josh said, pulling out his wand and the aimed it near the hole and shouted, "_Confringo!_" And the purple spell shot from Josh's wand and soared towards the rock wall, exploding the rock, causing Draco to cover his head with his arms. The spell made a loud explosion of rocks, and creating a bigger passaeway.

Draco moved his arms, and saw that the hole was bigger. "A little more warning next time, eh, Black?" he said. Josh rolled his eyes and the two boys continued through the rock passage, and through the cave. Josh lit his wand, and Josh followed suit.

After a few minutes of walking, Draco yelped and shut his eyes, "It's slytherin's monster!" he shouted, tripping on a stone and falling on his knees. Josh laughed, holding his stomach.

"It's just a skin," he said, "And it's not even alive."

Draco opened his eyes to see that Josh was telling the truth. "Oh," he said, standing back up.

"Yeah, how'd you know to close your eyes?" Josh asked.

"I may be friends with a couple of dunderheads, but i'm not stupid," Draco said, as Josh stared at him. "It was clearly obvious the monster was a snake, cause that's what Slytherin's house represents, and I only know one snake that can petrify with its eyes, which is a Basilisk. Any idiot could figure that out."

"Pretty much," Josh agreed. "Surprised the teacher didn't know what it was."

"Clearly we're learning from a bunch of idiots," Draco said. "Except for Snape, of course."

"Sure," Josh said, glancing at Draco. "Why aren't you sneering and insulting at me? And don't say because we're family."

"Because I know what you may or may not capable of," Draco answered, puzzling Josh.

"Er, okay," Josh said. "What do you mean by that?"

"Let's just say that we have a certain dislike of muggles," Draco said with a smirk, causing Josh to stop in his tracks, turn towards Draco, grabbed his robes and pushed him into a wall.

"Alright, Malfoy, what do you know?" Josh growled out, thinking about when he attack John. "And I don't hate all muggles, just one."

"Alright, alright, Josh, cool off," Draco said, Josh let go of him. "It was back at the World Cup," he said, straightening his robes. "I was there. I saw you smiling at the muggles that were being totured."

"So I found it a little funny, so what," Josh said, a feeling of relief coming over him, and continued walking with Draco in tow.

"I found it pretty hilarious if you ask me - "

"I didn't," Josh replied, and the two came up to a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. The eyes' looking strangely alive, and Josh knew it was the door to the Chamber of Secrets. "_Open_," he said, in a low, faint hiss.

Draco watched in awe as the serpents passed and the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight. Josh walked first, and then Draco followed.

Josh and Draco were standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support the ceiling lost in the darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place, causing Josh to remember all the events taht transpired in the Chamber his second year.

The two boys moved forward between the serpentine columns with their wands leading the way. Every footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. After a few minutes, Josh and Draco moved closer towards the statue, as a stench began to clog their noses.

"What the bloody hell is that smell?" Draco said, covering his nose with his hand.

"A rotting basilisk corpse," Josh said, pointing his lit wand ahead of them to show Draco a rotting corpse of the huge, dead basilisk. Most of the skin was rotted away, showing the bones, and the stench of the corpse was very horrible.

"What exactly are we doing here, again?" Draco asked.

"I was going to use this place as a training area for the Tournament," Josh spoke, turning to Draco, "because I don't plan on dying." Draco looked around and nodded.

"This would be a good place to train," he said. "Spacious, but it's really dark and smells horrible."

"Yeah, it needs a little work," Josh said, looking around. "But I can fix it up with a few spells I studied up on." Draco nodded and the two walked around examining the area looking for anything interesting, and didn't find anything until after a couple of minutes.

"Hey, Black!" Draco called out, appearing from right of the statue. "I found a corridor! It's over here, behing the statue."

Josh jogged over towards Draco and the statue, and moved closer, seeing the corridor. "Good job, Malfoy," Josh said, and moved past Draco who rolled his eyes and followed Josh.

The two boys entered the corridor and stopped as Josh noticed torches on the wall. He lifted his wand, swished, and said, "_Incendio!" _And the fire spell flew in a line, lighting all torches on the right side of the wall. Draco did the same and lit the torches on the left side of the wall, lighting up the corridor.

Josh and Draco followed through the corridor that seemed pretty long, but after a few minutes, they came up to a dark, twirling stone staircase. Glancing at one another, the two boys lit their wands and continued up the staircase, lighting a torch whenever they came up to one on the way up.

After what seemed like forever of trudging up the staircase, the two boys entered a landing, both breathing heavier than usual. "Finally," Draco breathed out. Josh looked up and saw it was a small stone clear and the he noticed a door ahead of them.

"A door," Josh breathed out, moving forward with Draco on his tail. Josh moved towards the doorknob, turning it, but it wouldn't open. "Damn."

"What is it?" Draco asked.

"It's locked," Josh answered.

"Try the unlocking charm on it," Draco suggested. Josh did as he suggested, but it didn't work. "Great, now what? Go back? We cant go back, now. I mean, look what we found. A door, which probably leads to treasure, or something."

"We're not going back," Josh spoke, grabbing the door knob, feeling something on it. "Wait," he said, pointing his lit wand at the doorknob which had a snake carved onto it. "Of course," he murmured, feeling a bit stupid. "_Open._" he hissed, surprising Draco, and both were surprised when the door opened to reveal a blackened abyss. "Shall we?" Josh said, looking at Draco who swallowed hard but nodded.

Josh softly snorted then entered through the door, with Draco behind him. Once Josh entered, the room lit on its own, and both boys were in awe at what the saw. It was a room, and a office, and a library, and a potion's lab.

Off to the far left side of the room were a couple of rows of hutches with many shelves full of books. To the right of the books was a area with a table full of a couple of cauldrons, and ingedients. On the wall behind the table were shelves full of potion ingredients, some familiar, some unfamiliar. To the right of that was a large desk, full of ancient looking papers littering on top, and finally to the far right was a decent looking cot, one would use to sleep. It was everything a wizard would need to do work, look up research, make potions, and sleep.

Josh and Draco moved into the center of the room looking around the whole room, amazed at what the found.

"Yes, take it in, take it all in. It's very amazing," said a voice behind Josh and Draco. The two boys slowly turned around to see a large sized portrait of an old looking man hanging next to the door. "Well, don't just stand there looking like a couple of idiots. Come say hello to one of the greatest Hogwarts' founders, Salazar Slytherin."

**A/N: Ah, yes a bit exciting isn't it? Draco and Josh!? Surprised Josh didnt try to rip his throat out? Me too. This place, so many things Josh could do. A little short, but i wanted to get this out here, and more in the next chapter. **


	19. Some Friendships Are Hard

**A/N: I just realized, Draco and Josh! like Drake and Josh!? haha get it!**

Chapter 19: Some Friendships Are Hard

_"Yes, take it in, take it all in. It's very amazing," said a voice behind Josh and Draco. The two boys slowly turned around to see a large sized portrait of an old looking man hanging next to the door. "Well, don't just stand there looking like a couple of idiots. Come say hello to one of the greatest Hogwarts' founders, Salazar Slytherin."_

"S-s-s-s-s," Draco stuttered, staring up at the moving portrait of Slytherin, who looked down at the two boys.

"Yes, I know, it's brilliant to me a famous person such like myself," Slytherin said, as Draco nodded and Josh stared back bankly. "Now, what are you two boys doing here, only the Heir of Slytherin can come in here, and light the place. For a moment, I thought you were that crazy boy who called himself Voldemort, I think it was." Josh and Draco shared a look. "Tell me, are you two his sons?"

"No!" Draco and Josh answered quickly in disgust, then looked at one another.

"Then how'd you get in here?" Slytherin asked, Draco turned to Josh who raised his hand.

"That'd be me," Josh said, then lowered his hand. "I'm the other Heir of Slytherin, from your second son." Draco looked wide-eyed at Josh.

"Ah, so my youngest did have a family," Slytherin spoke, a hand under his chin. "I didn't know, as we lost touch when I threw him out of my house. That was a big mistake, cause Gryffindor took him in. Gryffindor, always has to be so noble, always doing nice things and such. Didn't matter who it was, he'd help them out."

"Yeah, that's great and all," Josh said. "But do you know another way out of here?"

"Awe, come on, you don't want to talk?" Slytherin asked. "I can show you many things like those books, which are my private collection. That potion's table over there. I can show you how to make the hardest potions and ancient ones, and by my desk, holds magical items."

"Yeah, I do. I would like to ask you some questions, and examine this place, and learn new things," Josh replied. "But we have to get back to Hogwarts, the curfew is almost up."

"Ah, curfew," Slythering said, nodding. "Helga had to suggest that damn curfew and yes, Godric and Rowena had to agree with her. I thought wizards and witches should run free at anytime, but the vote was 3 to 1, so a curfew was put in."

"Yeah, that's great," Josh spoke, while he began looking around for a different door.

"What did you teach?" Draco blurted out, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Ah, I tought Defense Against the Dark Arts," Slytherin said, and pulled out a sword, waving it around. "I taught the young witches and wizards how to fight to the death, duel with honor, and teach them the best spells I could offer." Josh sighed and began looking around while Draco listened to Slytherin. "Rowena taught two subjects, Runes and Arithmancy, both misunderstood subjects to the witch or wizard who was very small minded." Josh sighed again and began pulling random books, seeing if one would open a secret passageway, a way he had learned from movies he had watched as a kid.

"Let's see," Slytherin spoke, sheathing his sword. "Helga taught Charms, a most delicate subject for a most delicate woman. And as for Godric, he taught Transfiguration, and if I remember correctly, he was a horrible teacher."

"I doubt that," Josh muttered, pulling a book entitled _Horcruxes. _

"What was that, son?" Slytherin shouted.

"What?!" Josh asked, pushing the book back. "I was just asking where the exit was?"

"Oh, come on, lad," Slytherin spoke, looking over at Josh. "Stay awhile, listen, learn. Come, where's your sense of adventure!? Please stay, really. I haven't had anybody to talk to since that Voldemort boy was here."

"Yeah, come on, Josh," Draco said, turning towards Josh. "Let's check this place out, examine some books, and look at those magical items. It could be fun."

"Fun? With you?" Josh replied, staring at Draco. "I'm pretty sure our idea of fun is different. I don't have pleasure in making fun of people, like you, Malfoy, or your idiot friend, Nott."

"Nott's not my friend," Draco replied. "He's just an idiot. I don't even like him. He's an arse."

"That's ironic," Josh muttered, pulling another book entitled _Dark Defense Against the Darker Attackers, _then pushed it back. "And I've noticed you haven't really insulted Harry or any other Gryffindors for that matter. Why is that?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know," he answered, and turned away. Josh glanced at Draco, knowing that was a lie, but suddenly, there was a loud gong sound.

"Great," Josh growled, harshly pushing a book back into a shelf. "The curfew is up!"

"Good," Slytherin said, clapping his hands together. "Now that means you can stay till morning. How wonderful. Now, do whatever you like, explore, learn, examine, make a potion, but do try and not explode this place. Alright? Alright. Now, have fun, while I get some shut sleep."

"What about the exit!?" Josh shouted, but it was too late as Slytherin was already sleeping and snoring, or pretending to snore by the looks of it. "Great," Josh sighed, then walked over to the desk and sat down. "Stuck in a secret room with a Malfoy."

"I'm not that bad, anymore," Draco said, moving over to the books, while Josh stared at him, trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with him.

Josh sighed, and thought he might as well look through a book and make the best of it. "Hand me a book," He said.

"Which one?" Draco asked, surprised Josh who thought he might say something like 'you get up and get it, I'm not your house elf,' or something similar along those lines.

"Surprise me," Josh replied. Draco nodded, and pulled out a book, and tossed to Josh who caught it and sat it on the desk. Josh looked down at the book that was titled _Most Difficult Potions, _opened it, and began sifting through the book. Draco too picked up a couple of books and then brought them over to the potions table ad began to look through them.

"It was the ferret incident," Draco spoke up, after minutes of silence, and Slytherin's soft snoring. Josh looked up from the Felix Felicis potion he was reading about and looked over at Draco who was sitting there, facing him, and looking at the floor.

"Um, okay," Josh said, remembering when Draco was turned into a ferret by Moody at the beginning of the year.

"I've never been humiliated so horribly in my entire life," Draco continued, as if he never heard Josh speak. "But then I was turned into a ferret, buy a mad man. And everyone laughed at me, even most of the Slytherin house, who practically looked up to me, but when the heard or saw, they thought I was weak and a loser, thought Nott, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle still stood by my side, but I don't think Nott was really that loyal, as he began to take the lead. Practically everyone calls be the bouncing ferret." Josh nodded, feeling a bit of sympathy from Draco.

"One night, I was hiding from everyone and I was so tired of the names, the way my father wrote to me, insulting me. I was tired of being treated the way i was, and I was tired of treating others like I had before," Draco spoke, sighing. "And then I did something I've never really done in my entire life, not since I was realy little. I cried. I don't know for how long, but I just did it." Josh stayed quiet, allowing Draco to continue. "And then someone found me. A girl, a second year in my house. And she hugged me close, while I cried. It was one of the best feelings in the world. I haven't been hugged like that since, well, ever. Nothing I can remember about being hugged like that comes to mind, nothing."

"So, you're not a git anymore?" Josh asked, leaning on the desk, and looking straight at Draco. "You're not going to be an ole mean and insulting Slytherin?"

Draco shook his head. "No," he answered. "I've come to realize that I don't want to be like my father. I want to be like, well, like you, Josh."

"Me?" Josh repeated with his eyebrows raised. Draco nodded.

"Yes," he said. "I don't want to be hated, I want to be liked."

"Have you not been watching or listening around the castle, Malfoy?" Josh asked, standing up. "Everyone practically hates me. All the Hufflepuffs hate me for taking Cedric out of the spotlight, A lot of the Gryfindors hate be for being a Black, and half of Ravenclaw House hates me for both of those reasons, and Most Slytherins hate me because I'm Gryffindor and just because. Trust me, you don't want to be like me." Josh explained, walking over towards the a bookcase with his book, and glanced over at Slytherin, swearing he saw that the old man quickly shut his eyes, and began to snore more loudly.

"Look Draco," Josh said, putting his potions book back. "It's great and all that you changed, but I don't think anyone would like me being friends with you. I'd be hated even more, consdering who you are."

"That's a little selfish, don't you think?" Draco said. Josh looked at Draco with his eyebrows raised. "I mean, why should be care you're friends with me? I mean, you're already friends with Blaise, Davis, and Greengrass, so why can't I be your friend?"

"I don't know," Josh replied, then pulled a red book, that didn't come out all the way, and hearing a clicking sound, and then a moving of a stone wall. Josh and Draco began to look around the room, and there, inbetween the bed and desk, the wall had opened up to reveal a dark staircase leading upwards. "Looks like I found an exit," Josh spoke, moving towards the exit. Draco followed.

"What about this place? Are you going to come back?" Draco asked. Josh turned back, and looked at the cool office, with a bunch of materials he could use for his future and the upcoming tournament. He glanced over to Slytherin who was snoring, but his eyes were slightly open.

Josh smiled. "Yeah, I'll be back," he said, and then began to step up the stairs with a nodding Draco in tow. Once they passed the doorway, the wall closed, leaving it dark, where the two boys once again had to light their wands to lead the way.

Fifteen minutes later, the two boys came up against a stone wall. "A dead end?" Josh spoke, his eyes wide in frustration. "What the hell?"

"That's not good," Draco said.

"No it's not!" Josh growled. "Did we miss a turn or something?"

"I didn't see a turn," Draco spoke, and then leaning against the dead end wall only to yelp as he phased through it.

"Of course," Josh said with a chuckle. "Another secret," he added and then walked through the wall to find they were in a dusty, old, broken, stone office. It was nearly empty except for the split in half desk that sat in front of Josh, and Draco was in between the two halves of the desk. He stood up, covered in dust, leaving an imprint on the ground.

"That was surprising," he said, dusting himself off. "Now, where are we?"

"Back in Hogwart by the looks of it," Josh said, moving over to the door, and Draco followed. Josh opened the door to reveal an old and dusty classroom full of broken chairs and desks littered around the room, nearly impossible to get through, but the two boys managed to get to the door on the other side of the room. They exited the room and found themselves in the dungeons.

"Home sweet home," Draco sighed, moving foward with Josh following. As Josh followed Draco, he felt himself passing through magic. He quickly stopped, and turned aroun to find he was directly facing a stone wall.

"More secretive magic," Josh spoke, causing Draco to stop and turn around, where he noticed the wall as well. Josh pushed his hand through the wall to see it was like the dead end in the stairwell, but it felt as it wasn't as old as the other wall, which was strange, and strange that he knew he could tell that.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to head to the Common room before I get in trouble," Draco spoke. Josh turned and nodded.

"Yeah, I should head back to Gryffindor Tower," he said, following Draco.

It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it had as disobliging habit of speeding up. The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed. Josh's feeling of anticipation and nearly controlled panic was with him wherever he went, as ever-present as the snide comments about theDaily Prophet article.

As for the secret Slytherin Office him and Draco had found, Josh had visited the place a couple more times, to study up on some spells and curses he could learn which would have been great if he wasn't distracted by the ever talking portrait, Salazar Slytherin. Every time Josh told him to shut up, Slytherin would tell him to give him some credit as he hadn't speak to anyone for a century, not counting Voldemort who Slytherin was the one listening to him complain and hiss at everything that he thought was wrong.

As for Draco, Josh had seen him in classe, mostly sitting by himself. He met him a couple of times out of class, but Josh did try to make the converstaions short, so no one would see him with a Malfoy, but that changed soon enough.

On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade, but Josh wasn't Daphne tried to convince him otherwise.

"Come on, Joshua, its Hogsmeade," Daphne spoke, as her, Josh, and Tracey stood out by the carriages. "It would do you some good, have some fun, and stuff. Get your mind off the tournament, and get away from the jerks."

"Yeah, I don't think going to Hogsmeade would get me away from the jerks," Josh replied. "Look, I don't want to go. I need to train and learn some spells, before the first task tomorrow. I don't even know what's in store for me tomorrow, it could be dangerous. I have to go - "

"To that secret place you've been going to somewhere in the Dungeons?" Tracey spoke up, next to Daphne.

"How'd you - Have you guys been spying on me?" Josh asked, crossing his arms.

"No," Daphne answered. "Blaise said he saw you walking through the dungeons by yourself after dinner. When he turned to followed you, he said you disappeared."

"Blaise," Josh spat. "What's he doing following me? What's he up to anyways?"

"Well, we were actually going to meet up with Blaise up at the Three Broomsticks," Tracey said. "We all can go and maybe you and Blaise can - "

"No," Josh said flatly, interuppting Tracey. "Not until he apologizes," he said stubbornly.

"Josh, come on," Daphne said. "This is ridiculous. Both of you are ridiculous!"

"Alright, fine, I'll go!" Josh replied, sighing and throwing his arms down. "But I'm not going to with you guys to Three Broomsticks."

"That's good enough," Daphne said, grabbing Josh's hand and pulling him into the carriage with a laughing Tracey following behind.

At Hogsmeade, Josh was walking behind Daphne and Tracey, watching other students walking past them as they entered the village, most of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges, but no horrible remarks came his way for a change, and nobody was quoting that stupid article to him.

"Well, look who it is!" Tracey spoke, pointing ahead. Josh and Daphne followed her finger to see a familiar woman.

Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub. Talking in low voices, they passed right by Tracey and Daphne without looking at them.

"She must be staying in the village. I bet she's proabably going to watch the first task, and write on it," Tracey added, then turned towards Josh. "You better watch out Josh or she'll - Where'd he go?" Daphne turned around to see that Josh had disappeared.

"Josh?" Daphne called.

"Is she gone?" came the voice of Josh who then poked out his head from the alley they had been standing next to.

"Yeah, she's gone," Tracey spoke, and Josh appeared next to the two girls.

"That woman's a menace," Josh said.

"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit chilly, isn't it?" Daphne said, rubbing her arms. "You don't have to talk to Blaise," she added.

"Why?" Josh asked, as the three continued to walk the streets. "I told you I wasn't going to go."

"Well, too bad," Daphne said, as she and Tracey grabbed Josh by the arm. "Cause we're here."

"And we're going in," Tracey added.

"Was this planned?" Josh asked, as he was dragged into the pub.

The Three Broomsticks was packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people Josh rarely saw anywhere else. He supposed that as Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain, it was a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept as wizards at disguising themselves.

It was very hard to move through crowds as Josh was being pulled by two girls, both trying not to loose their grip on Josh. The girls dragged Josh toward the table in the corner that was already occupied by Blaise who was already nursing a butterbeer. Tracey pushed Josh into a chair while her and Daphne went to go get some drinks.

"Blaise," Josh greeted with a stiff nod.

"Josh," Blaise greeted.

Josh looked around. He saw Harry and Hermione at a table a couple of tables away, and Hermione was writing in a notebook, talking animatedly to Harry who was looking bored. He looked around at everyone else. All of them looked cheerful and relaxed. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot were swapping Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table; both of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges on their cloaks. Right over by the door he saw Cho Chang and a large group of her Ravenclaw friends. She wasn't wearing a Cedric badge though.

Josh then saw Ron who had a few butterbeers in his hand, nearing Harry and Hermione by quickly walking backwards, not seeing Tracey with a butterbeer, about to take a drink, walking behind him, and then...crash!

Ron had run right into Tracey, spilling Tracey's butterbeer all over her, and crashing the butterbeers in Ron's hands to the ground, the glasses breaking. Everyone around them, stopped what they were doing to see what was going on.

Tracey turned on Ron who was surprised at what happened. "Oi! What's your stitch, Weasley!?" she growled into Ron's surprised face. Daphne was standing by the bar, holding her and Josh's butterbeers.

"Oh...er...s-s-sorry?" Ron spluttered with wide eyes. "I..."

"Great, not only did you drench me in butterbeer, but you probably chipped my tooth," Tracey growled at the redhead, who stood there looking a little scared.

"It was an accident," Ron blurted out. "I didn't see you."

"Of course you didn't," Tracey hissed, "Cause you're a blithering idiot!" she added, poking Ron in the chest.

"Hey, I resent that!" Ron spoke back, gaining back his Gryffindor courage. "And like I said, it was an accident. It's not like I meant to do it, and if you remember, I lost my butterbeer too, and Harry and Hermione's."

"Is everything okay?" Blaise asked, appearing next to the Tracey. Josh looked to his right, wondering when the heck did Blaise get up and go over to Tracey and Ron.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Trcaey answered with a sigh. "I'll just get another butterbeer."

"Oh, you don't have to," Blaise spoke, then looked at Ron. "Cause Weasley will get it for you."

"That's funny," Ron said, crossing his arms. "Cause I'm pretty sure I am not going to get a sneaky Slytherin a butterbeer."

"Yes, you are," Blaise said, crossing his arms and stepping in front of Ron, both boys the same size. More people stopped talking and watched Blaise and Ron, thinking a fight was about to happen. Josh stood up, thinking he should do something before a fight broke out.

"No, Blaise, it's fine," Tracey spoke, touching Blaise's arm. "I can get my own - "

"No," Blaise said defiantly, staring at Ron and uncrossing his arms. "Weasley's going to get it for you, and he's going to pay for it, and carry it to the table for you, and then, he's going to apologize to you." Josh stopped next to Blaise and Ron, and noticed Harry standing on the opposite of Josh, thinking along the same lines as him.

"No, I'm not," Ron said through gritted teeth, uncrossing his arms.

"Just because you're a Gryffindor, doesn't mean you can do something stupid to someone and get away with it without apologizing," Blaise spoke.

"No, it doesn't," Ron replied. "But towards a Slytherin? Yeah, it kind of does."

"Oh, yeah, you think all us Slytherins are the same, don't you Weasley," Blaise said. "Think we're all sneaky snakes, dark wizards, death eaters just waiting to happen."

"And that's news to you?" Ron said with a raised eyebrow, smirking and stepping closer to Blaise. "Now, what are you going to do about it?" And then it happened all at once. Ron and Blaise growled as the lunged at each other, each throwing a landing punch each, Ron hit in the nose, Blaise in the eye, and it was Harry and Josh who tried to pulled their wrestling friends apart.

There was a lot of screaming, some cheering for Ron, others for Blaise; Rosmerta was yelling for the boys to stop. It wasn't over until Hagrid appeared, pulling the boys apart with each hand.

"Alrigh' calm down, the both of ya!" Hagrid growled, holding Ron and Blaise back, who were glaring at one another. "This is over!"

"Alright, everyone," Madam Rosmerta said. "Nothing to see here, back to your business." And Everyone began to go back what they were doing, and talking about the fight, except Josh, Blase, Tracey, Daphne, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Now, as for you two," Rosmerta said, talking to Blaise and Ron. "I want you out of here. No one starts a fight in my pub. You go through the back door," she said to Blaise, pointing behind her with her thumb.

Tracey and Daphne began to drag Blaise away, while Harry and Hermione dragged Ron away. Josh sighed and followed his friends, but not before he noticed Hagrid tell Harry something, and Harry glanced at Josh, and nodded.

Josh exited the pub and into an alley where he found a fuming Blaise, and a worried Tracey, and Daphne waiting for him. "Blaise, what the hell is wrong with you?" Josh said, stopping infront of Blaise.

"Me? What about Weasley?" Blaise growled back.

"Ron is a hot headed, Slytherin hating git," Josh replied. "I'd expect that from him, but you are better than that Blaise. What Ron did was an accident, and yeah he should apologize to Tracey, but you can't force him to do it with fighting."

"Oh, so when you fight Nott and his goons it's okay, but when I have one little tiff with Weasley, it's ridiculous," Blaise nearly yelled. Josh stared at Blaise. He was right. Whenever Josh would confront Nott, they would fight and Josh almost always got away with it, but was that because he was a Gryffindor and they were favored among most teachers and staff?

Even though Blaise was right, Josh didn't want to admit it. "This isn't about me," He said. "This is about you being as low as Weasley, and not being the better person. You should have shown that Slytherins aren't as bad as people think them out to be, but you did the opprosite."

"What do you care, Black? All you care about is yourself!" Blaise growled back. "You don't even care about us, Slytherins."

"That's not true," Josh replied.

"You don't even care about your own father, Josh," Blaise continued. "So what? It wasn't his fault he wasn't there. Your mother was the one who lied to you."

"She might have lied to me, but she didn't leave me behind for something she thought was more important," Josh said.

"Actually, she did," Blaise replied, to which Josh didn't reply because Blaise was sort of right. "See your family is messed up. Your parents didn't care enough for you to stay behind with you, one in Azkaban, the other on the run. Your grandfather doesn't even want to be around, and you are just like them. Last year, you didn't stay with us, you didn't even say farewell to me or Tracey at the end of the year."

"But I've made up for that, haven't I?" Josh said.

"Oh, yeah, you apologized to me and Daphne," Blaise started, then pointed over to Tracey. "But what about Tracey? Have you even apologized to her at all?" Josh didn't answer and looked over at Tracey who was looking worried, twiddling her fingers. He hadn't even apologized to Tracey. The two weren't even that close, nor have the two just hung out with one another. It wasn't that he didn't like her, it was just that he never thought about just hanging out with her or anything like that.

"By the stupid look on your face, I can tell you that you haven't apologized to her," Blaise said. "See, you're just as selfish as Nott."

"Don't!" Josh growled, "Don't you ever compare me to Nott! I am nothing like him!"

"Then why do you stoop to his level whenever you two appear in front of one another?" Blaise said. "Why do you just duel him without any thought? Yeah, they provoke you, but it doesn't mean you should just hex them without a second thought. You know what? I think you're in the wrong house. Maybe you should be in our house. I mean, you are the stupid Heir of Slytherin."

"You know what, I don't care," Josh said, throwing his arms down in exasperation. "You don't want to be my friend cause of my actions, Blaise? Fine, then I don't want to be yours," he said, then looked at Tracey. "I'm sorry, Tracey, but we aren't close, and I didn't think it was that big of a deal." Josh then began to walk away, but then stopped and turned to Daphne who was looking worried. "Oh, and thanks Daphne. This was exactly what I needed," he said sarcastically, leaving her staring at him with her mouth agape.

Josh clenched his fists as he exited the alley, growling to himself about stupid advice and ignorant best mates.

"Josh! Josh, wait up! I have to tell you something!"

Josh sighed and stopped. He turned around as Harry ran up to him. "Hey," he greeted to Josh.

"Hey," Josh greeted back. "What do you want?"

"Just to let you know that Hagrid wanted to see you tonight at mid-night," Harry said.

"What for?" Josh asked.

"He didn't really say," Harry replied. "Just said to meet him at his hut, and don't worry about getting caught. I'll lend you the map and the cloak, alright?"

"Alright," Josh said, and began to leave, but Harry grabbed his arm.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked. "I mean, all this must be a lot to take in. I mean if it was me, then I'd probably go insane."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Josh answered, pulling away from Harry. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Harry nodded and the two boys went their separate ways.

Josh was nearing the end of the village when he heard his name being called again. "Joshua, hold on!" called a voice, but Josh kept walking. "Joshua, wait up!" Someone grabbed Josh's arm, trying to stop him. Josh stopped and turned towards Tracey.

"What?" he hissed.

"You're being ridiculous!" Tracey said, pushing Josh's shoulder.

"I'm being ridiculous?" Josh cried, pointing behind Tracey with his hand. "Blaise was the one being ridiculous, with his stupid hotheaded stupidity."

"So are you!" Tracey said, pulling Josh's arm down. "And maybe you should follow your own advice sometimes."

Josh sighed. "What advice," he said, rolling his eyes and throwing his arms in his pockets.

"The 'being the better person' advice!" Tracey said, slapping Josh in his arm. "You should just be the petter person and apologize to Blaise even if it isn't your fault for not being a complete and total idiot."

Josh sighed. "I'll think about it," he said, then began to turn away, but Tracey stopped him.

"Josh," she said, making Josh turn back to her. "Please. You are the only guy friend Blaise has. Yeah, me and Daph do love him to death, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't like when we talk about the girly stuff. He needs a guy friend to talk Quidditch and about girls and stuff you guys talk about."

"Alright, Tracey," Josh exhaled. "I get it. I'll do something."

"Okay," Tracey said, letting go of Josh. "Take him to your secret hiding place."

"We'll see," Josh said with a sigh, and then began to walk away. Tracey smiled to herself and then walked back into the village.

Later that night, Josh was sitting on one of the plump chairs by the fire. He continued to stare into the fire, ignoring everything around him, and thinking about tomorrow's task which had him worried like crazy. He was shaken from his thoughts when something soft and plump landed in his lap. Josh looked down to see that Harry's Invisibility Cloak was there, and looked up to see Harry standing next to him.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you how to use it, right?" Harry spoke, sitting on the couch.

Josh snorted and shook his head. Harry smiled and began to leave. "Harry, wait," Josh called, Harry stopped and sat back down, looking back at Josh questioningly. "How's Ron?" Josh asked.

Harry sighed. "He's a bit angry. Has been talking ill of the Slytherins ever since him and Zabini almost fought," He answered. "He's also angry at the fact that you walked out with the Slytherins and not with us. Hermione's a little put out about that too, but I'm not sure why."

"Oh," Josh said, nodding. "Ron's okay, but he'd better if he wasn't so judgemental and stupid."

"Hey, don't worry. He'll come 'round," Harry said, touching Josh's shoulder and stood up. "When you're done, You can just hand me the cloack back cause I'll be here waiting for you cause we have that talk with Sirius," he said and then left Josh alone.

At half past eleven that evening, Josh sat up and looked around. The common room was pretty much empty. Standing up, Josh unfolded the cloak and threw it over himself and snuck out of the portrait hole. He looked back and was lucky to find that the Fat Lady was gone from her portrait.

The grounds were very dark. Josh walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; Josh could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as they knocked on Hagrid's front door.

"You there, Josh?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.

"Yeah," said Josh, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the cloak down off him. "What's up?" he asked, fixing his hair.

"Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid.

There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair - Josh could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it.

"What're you gonna show me?" Josh said warily. "Not another dead unicorn or gian spider is it?"

Hagrid chuckled and shook his head. "Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerselves covered with that cloak," he said. "We won' take Fang, he won' like it…

"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long…I got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock -"

But Hagrid wasn't listening to Josh; he was opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Josh sighed and hurried to follow and found, to his great surprise, that Hagrid was leading him to the Beauxbatons carriage.

"Hagrid, what -?"

"Shhh!" said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.

Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid.

"Ah, 'Agrid… it is time?"

"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps.

Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Josh, totally bewildered, running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to show him Madame Maxime? He could see her any old time he wanted...she wasn't exactly hard to miss…But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as he was, because after a while she said playfully, "Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"

"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y - don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes.

And still they walked, Josh was getting more and more irritated as he jogged along in their wake, checking his watch every now and then. Hagrid had some harebrained scheme in hand, which might make him miss Sirius. If he didn't get there soon, he was going to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime.

But then - when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight - Josh heard something. Men were shouting up ahead…then came a deafening, earsplitting roar…Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Josh hurried up alongside them - for a split second, He thought they were seeing bonfires, and men darting around them - and then his mouth fell open.

Dragons. Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting - torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a gigantic black one, more lizardlike than the others, which was nearest to them.

At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerised, Harry and Sophie looked up, high above them, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, they couldn't tell which…It was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream.

"Keep back there, Hagrid!" yelled a wizard near the fence, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"

"Is'n' it beautiful?" said Hagrid softly.

"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"

Josh watched in awe as he saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his wand.

"Stupefy!" they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides - Josh watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking - then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scalyblack dragon hit the ground with a thud that Josh could have sworn made the trees behind him quake.

The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.

"Wan' a closer look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly. The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and Josh followed. The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and Joshrealised who it was: Charlie Weasley, Ron's brother.

"All right, Hagrid?" he panted, coming over to talk. "They should be okay now - we put them out with a Sleeping Draught on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet - but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all -"

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something chose to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Josh could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one — a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray — and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."

Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons.

"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming - she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.

"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head.

"Four…" said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"

"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why… but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Josh saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches.

Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.

"I've got them counted, Hagrid," said Charlie sternly. Then he said, "How's Josh by the way?"

"Fine," said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs.

"Just hope He's still fine after he's faced this lot," said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about him and Harry…" Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. "How could they let Josh enter that tournament, he's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit! She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about them. 'He cries about his parents! Oh bless them, I never knew!'"

Josh had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss him, with the attractions of four dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, Josh turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle.

He didn't know whether he was glad he'd seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was over now. Maybe if he'd seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, he would have passed out cold in front of the whole school… but maybe he would anyway…He was going to be armed with his wand - which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood — against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And he had to get past it. With everyone watching. How?

Josh sped up, skirting the edge of the forest; he had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius with Harry, and he couldn't remember, ever, wanting to talk to him more than he did right now — when, without warning, he ran into something very solid.

Josh fell backward, clutching the Cloak around him, tightly. A voice nearby said, "Ouch! Who's there?"

Josh hastily checked that the cloak was covering him and laid very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard he had hit. He recognized the goatee…it was Karkaroff.

"Who's there?" said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Josh remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were.

Very slowly and very carefully, Josh got to his feet, and set off again as fast as he could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back toward Hogwarts.

He had no doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up to. He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out what the first task was going to be. He might even have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off around the forest together – they were hardly difficult to spot at a distance… and now all Karkaroff had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for the champions. By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric, which Josh wondered if he should tell him or not.

Josh reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and began to climb the marble stairs; he were very out of breath, but he didn't dare slow down…he had less than five minutes to get up to the fire.

"Balderdash!" Josh gasped at the Fat Lady, who was snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole.

"If you say so," she muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, and the picture swung forward to admit them. Josh climbed inside, slipping out of the Cloak.

The common room was deserted except for Harry who was in an armchair in front of the fire. Josh cleared his throat to let Harry know he was there. Harry turned and watched as Josh moved over and sat in front of the fire.

"So, what was it Hagrid wanted to show you?" Harry asked.

Josh leaned forward. "Dragons," he said, shocking Harry. "We're going to have to fight off dragons or something like that."

Harry nodded.

Josh looked around the room that was in semi-darkness; the flames were the only source of light. He turned back and looked into the flames, and jumped. Sirius's head was sitting in the fire.

Harry broke into the first smile and scrambled out of his chair, crouched down by the hearth, and said, "Sirius - how're you doing?"

Sirius looked different from Harry and Josh's memory of him. When they had said goodbye, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair - but the hair was short and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph Harry had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding.

"Never mind me, how are you two?" said Sirius seriously.

"Oh, we're just bloody fine!" Josh began to say. "Where do I start? No one believes I didn't put my stupid name in the Goblet, everyone now knows I'm a Black, Skeeter lies about me in that Daily Prophet, two of my friends are mad at me, nearly the whole school hates me, and on top of all this, I have to fight a dragon in the first task!" Harry was looking at him, stunned, never ever seeing Josh losing his cool. "Now, tell me if that's a fine life?"

Sirius looked at him, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them - that deadened, haunted look He had let Josh talk himself into silence without interruption, but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, Josh, but we'll get to that in a minute - I haven't got long here… I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you two about."

"What?" said Harry, as Josh grumbled softly to himself.

"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Harry, Josh, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes - he - what?"

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry said slowly, as Josh felt a little worried about this information. "Why did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names… he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place…He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

"Okay," Josh said slowly. "Do yo think Karkaroff was the person who put my name in the Goblet? I mean, if he did, he did a good way of showing he hadn't. I mean, he was furious about my name popping out of the Goblet. He wanted me to stop from competing."

"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Josh…"

"- you and the rest of the world," said Josh bitterly.

"- and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

"So… what are you saying?" said Harry slowly. "Karkaroff's trying to kill me or Josh? And - why?"

Sirius hesitated.

"I've been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark… and then - did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins?" said Harry.

"Exactly… she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumoured to be last… and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but… it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" said Harry.

"You know, I bet it would be possible," Josh said. "

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, you two. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So… so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Harry. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know… Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet, Joshua, did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

"But why would someone want to kill me!?" Josh said, and then pointed at Harry. "Harry is the one they want. His name should have popped out of the goblet."

"Yeah, thanks," Harry said dryly.

"Now it doesn't matter," Josh sighed. "Cause there's no way I can beat a dragon."

"Right - these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Josh. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell - dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon -"

"Yeah, I know," Josh replied.

"But you can do it alone," said Sirius. "There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just -"

But Harry held up a hand to silence him, Josh's heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. He and Harry could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind them.

"Go!" Harry hissed at Sirius. "Go! There's someone coming!"

Harry and Josh scrambled to their feet, hiding the fire - if someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar - the Ministry would get dragged in - Harry, and Josh, would be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts - the two boys heard a tiny pop! in the fire behind him and knew Sirius had gone. They watched the bottom of the spiral staircase. Who had decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling Josh how to get past a dragon? It was Ron. Dressed in his pajamas, he stopped and stared at Harry and Josh across the room, and looked around.

"Who were you talking to?" he said.

Harry said, "We were talking t - "

"What's it to you, Weaslebee," Josh said lazily, interuppting Harry. "And what are you doing here anyways?"

"I just wondered where you guys -" Ron broke off, shrugging and glaring at Josh. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."

"Yes, please be a good boy and go back to bed," Josh said.

"You know what Josh," Ron said, strolling up to Josh. "You think you're so better than everyone else, don't you - "

"Not everyone, but better than you? Yeah," Josh said, looking up to the taller redhead. Harry looked in between to two, looking a bit worried.

"You don't deserve to be in this House of Gryffindor," Ron spoke. "You belong in Slytherin House with the snakes!"

Josh stared at Ron, noticing his bruising on his nose, which reminded him of Blaise and their fight, and then remembered what Tracey had told him. 'Follow your own advice.'

"You're right, Ron," Josh spoke, surprising both Ron and Harry. "You always are. I guess I do belong in Slytherin House, it'd only make sense, since I'm the Heir of Slytherin, and I guess it's only a matter of time before I become like Voldemort himself."

"Josh, I didn't mean - "

"It's fine, Ron. You hate me, and I accept that," Josh said, and then walked past Ron and up to the dorms where Josh lied in his bed and waited for sleep to consume him.

**A/n: Whoa! Long chapter, longest I ever wrote. There you have it. Things are tough for Josh, and Dragons! Man, how the heck is he going to fight off a Dragon? He can't fly that's for sure! But I have an epic fighting Dragon scene to write! I wanted to have a fight between Harry, Josh, and Sirius but I think that will have to wait, and as for Josh and Ron? will they still be friends? And who do you think Josh will take to the Yule Ball? Any questions? I have answers. **

**And to 'The Not so Great': It's both! I do have ideas planned out, and I do make some of it up as I go along, and that's why I have you guys to tell me where I went wrong so I can fix it and make it more awesome!**


	20. First Task

**A/N: Confused? Well, go back and read Chap19 as I finished writing it. It's pretty long. Enjoy this chapter. **

Chapter: First Task

Josh got up on Sunday morning and dressed in some old clothes, with a plan in his mind to fix his friendship with Blaise. Josh exited the common room and hurried off to the Great Hall. He scanned the Hall for Blaise, seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione eating together; Cedric was talking and laughing with his friends which reminded Josh of the Dragons; and he saw William talking to the dreamy blonde girl; and then, Josh found him sitting by himself at the Slytherin table. Daphne and Tracey were not there yet, but Malfoy was a few seats away.

Josh mustered up all his Gryffindor courage and walked towards the Slytherin table and stopped in front of Blaise who stopped eating and looked up to Josh.

"What do you want?" he said.

"Can we talk?" Josh asked.

"About?"

"Come with me," Josh said, and then began walking away. Blaise sighed, getting out of his seat and began to follow Josh. Malfoy, who was curious, also decided to follow the two.

Josh led Blaise out of the Great Hall and down into the deepest hall of the dungeons, and then stopped at the phasing wall, and turned to Blaise who looked confused.

"What are we doing here in the dungeons?" he asked. "And why here at the dead end of this hallway?"

Josh smiled, "It's not a dead end," he said, and then shocked Blaise by wakling through the wall. After a few seconds, Josh's arm reappeared and pulled Blaise through the wall.

"What is this?" Blaise asked. "Where are we? Is this what you wanted to show me?"

"No, not yet," Josh said, and began walking down the hallway. "We'll be there in a little bit."

"Be where?" Blaise asked, following Josh. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll see," was all Josh said as he led Blaise into one of the oldest classrooms and then into the back where the teacher's office was. Josh and Blaise entered the office, not noticing Malfoy's head popping into the classroom doorway.

"Are where there yet?" Blaise asked as the two moved behind the desk and stopped.

"Sort of," Josh said, looking at the wall right behind the desk. "Watch," he said, phasing his hand through the wall.

"Okay, I'm interested," Blaise said, crossing his arms. "Now, where the hell are you taking me?"

"We're almost there, I promise," Josh said, and then walked through the wall. Blaise sighed and followed Josh through the wall, where he was now standing at a small clearing next to a staircase where the only way was down. "I'm guessing we go down?" Blaise said.

"Yep," Josh said, and began to walk down the staircase with Blaise following, both taking out their wands and lighting them. After a while, Josh and Blaise came to a wall.

"Is this other magical wall?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah, but not like the others," Josh said, and then hissed in Parseltongue, "_Open." _And the wall opened up, and josh walked passed it where the room lit up automatically. Blaise then entered, and looked around in awe at what he saw. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

Josh smirked and sat down on the desk. "Welcome to Slytherin's Personal Office," he said as Blaise walked in further.

"This place is amazing," Blaise breathed out, moving over to the bookshelves and began to examine the books.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing isn't it?" said a drawling voice. Blaise and Josh turned around to see Malfoy entering the room, and the wall closed behind him. "I was pretty amazed by it too."

"Malfoy, what the hell are you doing here?" Blaise growled.

"Oh, you didn't tell him?" Malfoy said, looking over to Josh who glared at Malfoy.

"Tell me what?" Blaise said, glaring over at Josh and then back at Malfoy.

"Oh, this room," Malfoy said, then pointed to himself and Josh. "We found it together. Yeah, we met at the entrance of the Chamber and I helped him find this place."

"What?" Blaise said, turning to Josh. "He knew about this room before me?"

"Yes, but he followed me so I had no choice," Josh spoke quickly. "But he's different now. He's not a big git anymore, just a regular one."

"Hey!"

"And it doesn't matter," Josh said, looking at Draco. "This is only his second time being here. The only way to get here is to follow us, or if he could speak parseltongue, but I'm the only one who knows snake language besides Harry who doesn't even know this place exists."

"Wait," Blaise said. "The Gryffindors don't even know about this place?" Josh shook his head, and Blaise smiled. "Alright, cool - "

"Josh, aren't you going to introduce me?"

Blaise spun around and faced the Slytherin portrait, his eyes widening.

"Blaise, meet Salazar Slytherin, Slytherin meet Blaise Zabini," Josh introduced.

"Ah, hello young Blaise, it is nice to meet another young Slytherin housemate!" Slytherin spoke.

"And it is an honor to meet someone as great as you, sir," Blaise greeted back.

Slytherin laughed. "Ah, yes, I am truly amazing," his said as Josh rolled his eyes. "If I could shake your hand, I would, but alas, I am nothing but a mere portrait."

"Blaise," Josh called, moving over towards his friend. Blaise turned and looked back at Josh questioningly. "Look, I'm sorry for being such a git and everything, but you have to believe me when I say that I didn't put my name in the Goblet of Fire, I swear I didn't."

Blaise nodded. "Apology accepted, and I'm sorry too, for being as much as a git to you too," he said, then held out his hand. "Best mates?"

"Best mates," Josh replied with a smile, shaking Blaise's hand.

"Um, right," Draco spoke. "If you didn't put your name in the Goblet, then who did?"

Blaise and Slytherin both looked at Josh wondering the same thing, and then Josh continued to tell them all about what he knew, about his talk with Sirius and his warnings about Karkaroff, and about the first task with the dragons.

"I'd be more worried about facing a Dragon then who the bloody hell put your name in that gobletor about Karkaroff," Drac said, moving over to the book shelves. "Any books on Dragons, Slytherin?"

Slytherin nodded and pointed down. "Yes, check the bottom shelf," he said, "And you might want to look up some advanced defense magic, try the book _Defense Against the Toughest Magical Creatures_, on the first row, Top shelf, right end. It has some good spells in there." Draco nodded and began to pull out books.

"I hate to say it, but Malfoy's right," Blaise said. "We can worry about Karkaroff later, but now, we worry about keeping you alive against a Dragon."

Josh nodded as Draco dropped an armful of books on the desk and the three Boys began looking through the books while Slytherin watched, having nothing else better to do.

"Let's see," Blaise said, looking through a book on Dragons. "Talon-clipping done with charms… treating scale-rot… There's nothing here, only stuff for insane people who'd want a dragon for a pet."

"You know, dragons are extremely difficult to slay," Slytherin began to say while the three boys read on. "Owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate..."

"But Sirius said a simple one would do the trick," Josh said, "But before he could tell me what it was, we were interuppted by Weasley."

"Whoa, check out these spells!" Draco blurted out, pointed at the book he was reading. "These spells here, they very advanced, but I think they would definitely help you against a Dragon!" Blaise and Josh moved over to Draco to look at the book he was reading. "See, this spell, the Uprooting Spell. You point your wand under or near your target, and roots appear out from the ground and bind your target. It will bind the arms, legs, or the entire body and hold it to the ground. It's mostly nonverbal, but there is an incantation, _Natorus Mokta._"

"Check this one," Blaise said, pointing at the next page. "A Temporary Blinding Spell. It blinds the victim or creature for a few minutes or so, depending on how powerful you use it. Incantation is _Sol_ _Excandescunt_. It also gives him a headache, which probably would make the dragon more angry."

"Yeah, I don't think blinding a Dragon would be too much of a good idea," Draco said who then turned the page. Josh then moved over to the desk and sat down, looking down at the ground. "Check this one. It's a Lightning Curse. It sends lightning out of your wand. The strength of the lightning depends on how much power you put behind the curse. Incantation in _Fulgur."_

"Hey, what about this distraction spell - " Blaise started, but stopped when he looked at Josh. "Josh? What's wrong, mate?"

Josh looked up at Blaise and Draco as they watched him, waiting for his answer. "What if I can't do this? What if I can't fight off this dragon?" Josh said. "What if I do die!?"

"Josh, you're not going to die," Blaise replied. "Everything's going to be okay."

"How do you know!?" Josh cried. "What's makes you think I can do this?!"

"Because you're Joshua Black!" Blaise spoke. "You're the smartest guy in this school. You're the guy who knows how to fight off a hundred dementors; the guy who's faced a giant snake, the guy who can perfect any spell just like that! You can fight off this dragon, cause I believe you can!"

"I believe you can too," Draco said with a nod.

"See, we both believe in you," Blaise said. "And I'm positive that Daphne and Tracey both believe in you and so do your parents and most of your house!"

Josh nodded and smiled in thanks. He should believe in himself like his friends believe in him. If they think he can beat a dragon, then so can he, even if he was not totally convinced he was.

Josh barely slept that night. When he awoke on Monday morning, he seriously considered for the first time ever just running away from Hogwarts. But as he looked around the Great Hall at breakfast time, and thought about what leaving the castle would mean, he knew he couldn't do it. It was one of the places where he was happy…besides, he couldn't leave all his friends behind, nor did he want to be like his parents.

Somehow, the knowledge that he would rather be here and facing a dragon than back at home living with only a house elf was good to know; it made him feel slightly calmer.

Josh slowly finished his bacon with difficulty, not feeling to well about eating, and as he got up to leave, he saw Cedric Diggory leaving the Hufflepuff table. Which reminded him that Cedric still didn't know about the dragons… the only champion who didn't, and if Josh was right in thinking that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and Krum…but still, Josh wasn't too fond of Cedric and contemplated on telling him. He always looked at Josh weirdly, like the others who thought he was insane like his parents were believed to be and were just waiting for him to crack.

But Josh sighed, knowing he should at least do that right thing, even if he didn't like it. So, he made his decision and decided to follow after the Hufflepuff git.

"Hey, Josh," Neville called, seeing Josh going the opposite way he was going. "Where are you going? You'll be late, the bell's about to ring -"

"I'll catch you up, okay?" Josh said, looking at him, and then ran off.

By the time Josh reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. Josh didn't want to talk to Cedric in front of them; they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter's article at him every time he went near them. So, he followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor.

This gave Josh an idea. Pausing at a distance from them, he pulled out her wand, and took careful aim.

"_Diffindo_!"

Cedric's bag split. Parchment, quills, and books spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed. Josh smirked and tried not to laugh.

"Don't bother," said Cedric in an exasperated voice as his friends bent down to help him. "Tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on…"

This was exactly what Josh had been hoping for. He slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until Cedric's friends had disappeared into their classroom, and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but himself and Cedric who noticed him.

"Cedric," Josh greeted.

"Black," said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered with ink, then muttered to himself about a worthless new bag. He looked up to see Josh watching him. "Can I help you?"

"The first task is dragons," Josh said blankly.

"What?" said Cedric, looking up with wide eyes.

"Dragons," said Josh, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. "They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."

Cedric stared at him. Josh saw some of the panic he'd been feeling since Saturday night flickering in Cedric's grey eyes.

"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.

"Dead sure," Josh said. "I've seen them."

"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know…"

"Never mind," said Josh quickly, avoiding to tell the truth about that. "But I'm not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now - Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too."

Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, parchment, and books, his ripped bag dangling off one shoulder. He stared at Josh, and there was a puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes.

"Why are you telling me?" he asked. "I thought you don't like me."

Josh stared at Cedric. "I don't," he said. "I just thought it was the right thing to do. Now, we all know about it. We're on an even footing, aren't we?"

Cedric was still looking at him in a slightly suspicious way when Josh heard a familiar clunking noise behind her. He turned around and saw Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom.

"Come with me, Black," he growled. "Diggory, off you go."

Josh stared apprehensively at Moody. Had he overheard them?

"Er - Professor, I'm supposed to be in Herbology -"

"Never mind that, Black. In my office, please…"

Josh followed him, wondering what was going to happen to him now. What if Moody wanted to know how he'd found out about the dragons? Would Moody go to Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid? _  
_

Josh followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Josh, his magical eye fixed upon him as well as the normal one.

"That was a very decent thing you just did, Black," Moody said quietly.

Josh raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to say; this wasn't the reaction he had expected at all.

"Sit down," said Moody, and Josh sat, looking around.

He had visited this office under two of its previous occupants. In Professor Lockhart's day, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Professor Lockhart himself. When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. Now, however, the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd objects that Josh supposed Moody had used in the days when he had been an Auror.

On his desk stood what looked hike a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Josh recognised it at once as a Sneakoscope, because he owned one, though it was much smaller than Moody's. In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite of Josh on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room. Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus.

"Like my Dark Detectors, do you?" said Moody, who was watching Josh closely.

"What is that?" Josh asked, pointing at the squiggly golden aerial.

"Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies… no use here, of course, too much interference - students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework. Been humming ever since I got here. I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff," he added in a growl.

"And what's the mirror for?"

"Oh that's my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk."

He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the large trunk under the window. It had seven keyholes in a row. Josh wondered what was in there, until Moody's next question brought him sharply back to earth.

"So… found out about the dragons, have you?"

Josh hesitated. He'd been afraid of this - but he hadn't told Cedric, and he certainly wasn't going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules.

"It's all right," said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been."

"I didn't cheat," Josh spoke sharply. "I didn't know I was being shown dragons until I saw the dragons."

Moody grinned. "I wasn't accusing you, lad. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human."

Moody gave another harsh laugh, and his magical eye swivelled around so fast it made Josh feel a little queasy to watch it.

"So… got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?" said Moody.

"Not entirely sure," Josh said.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you," said Moody gruffly. "I don't show favouritism, me. I'm just going to give you some good, general advice and the first bit of advice is – play to your strengths."

"I know, Professor Moody," Josh replied, determination in his eyes.

"Well - "

"Look, Professor. I know you're trying to help me and all," Josh started, interuppting the professor. "I'm not entirely sure about how I'm going to handle my dragon, but I do have an idea, cause i'm going to do whatever it takes." And with that, Josh stood up and left Professor Moody's office not noticing how the stange Proffesor was looking at him with a half sadistic smile.

"Hermione, Neville!" Josh hissed, when he had sped into greenhouse three minutes later, uttering a hurried apology to Professor Sprout as he passed her. "Hermione - I need you and Neville to help me." He said, settling inbetween the two. Neville looked at Josh as if he was crazy.

"Me?" He said. "You do know who I am, right?"

"I do,"Josh said. "That's why I need your help, 'cause your a pretty good at charms and a genius in Herbology."

"And why do you need my help," Hermione spoke, not looking at Josh as she pruned the quivering Flutterby Bush. "Why don't you go ask Daphne Greengrass for help."

Josh rolled his eyes. "What's the matter with you?" he asked, turning to Hermione.

"Nothing," Hermione replied. "You don't need my help."

"Hermione, you're the smartest witch I know," Josh said, causing Hermione to look at Josh. "Daphne knows a lot, but she doesn't know everything."

"I don't know everything," Hermione said, with a tiny blush.

"You do," Josh replied. "And I'm sure you know a spell that can protect me from fire or shield me from fire."

"I do," Hermione said, looking worried. "Why do you need to protect yourself from fire?" Josh smirked, and then while the three worked on their plants, Josh quietly told them about the dragons.

"Dragons?" Neville hissed quietly. "Blimey, that's gonna be scary!" Josh nodded.

"Okay," Hermione said, nodding. "I'll help you. And this is gonna be a lot of work if you're going to have to perfect these spells by the First Task, which is soon."

"I know," Josh said, and at the end of class, Hemione and Neville began to follow Josh. All three decided to skip class to help Josh perfect the spells he needed to learn.

"Where are we going to practice these spells at?" Hermione asked.

"Wait, we're not going to do this on the grounds?" Neville asked.

"No," Josh said, leading the two towards the dungeons. "We're going to the Chamber."

"The Chamber?" said a confused Neville, while Hermione looked surprised and shocked.

"You mean the Chamber of Secrets?" Hermione said, Josh nodded, leading them down the empty dead end hallway. "Josh, have you been going down to the Chamber a lot?"

"Yes," Josh answered slowly. "But only when I need to be alone or when I want to look at some of Slytherin's things or make a potion."

"Slytherin's things?" said a confused Hermione, "What are you talking - " But stopped in her tracks when Josh disappeared through the wall. Neville too stopped in shock.

"Wh-wh-what just happened?" Neville spoke, but yelped when two arms appeared from the wall and pulled Him and Hermione through the wall.

"Come on guys," Josh said, and then led the two Gryffindors to the old classroom, then the old office, then through the magical wall, and down the staircase, and finally, into Slytherin's, now Josh's, secret room.

"Josh, this place is amazing," Hermione spoke as she and Neville looked around the room. Neville stopped at the portrait of an empty room.

"What a strange painting," Neville said, but then screamed in surprise when a man in nice green robes jumped into the frame.

"More friends?" Slytherin said, as Josh and Hermione walked up to the Slytherin portrait.

"Yes," Josh said with a nod, but Slytherin's face fell when he noticed Neville's and Hermione's crests and ties.

"Gryffindors," he said, with a boring look on his face. "Spectacular," he said in false happiness.

"Be nice, Sal," Josh said, moving over to the open book on the desk. "Neville, come here." Neville moved away from Hermione who began conversing with Slytherin.

"What is it?" Neville asked, stopping next to Josh who pointed at the spell.

"This one," Josh said. "The Uprooting Spell. When you use it right, roots appear out from the ground and bind your target. It will bind whatever you will need binding and hold it to the ground_._"

"Yeah, it's a pretty cool spell, Josh," Neville said, then looked up at Josh. "But how am I s'pose to help you with this?"

"Well, what do you know about Roots and their placement?" Josh asked. "Can they break through rocks and boulders?"

"Well, I guess," Neville said. "I think it all depends on where you are."

"Probably not close enough to any trees or what ever," Josh spoke, and then sighed. There goes one plan out the window -

"There might be a way," Neville said, as he read the book. "But you need to be really powerful and it may drain a lot of magic out of you."

"What do you mean - "

"MUGGLEBORN!" shouted Slytherin at the top of his lungs, shocking both Neville and Josh. The two boys lifted their heads to see Slytherin glaring at Hermione, and then looked over a Josh who began to walk over to a cowering Hermione. "You brought a filthy muggleborn witch into my Secret Chamber?"

"You shut it!" Josh growled, pointing at the portrait. "This girl is a very good friend of mine. And Since I am your Heir and you're dead, I can bring whomever I like down here, inculding muggleborns or muggles if I like! And besides, it's not like you can do anything about it!"

Slything clenched his teeth, glaring at both Josh and Hermione, growled out loud, and then left his portrait.

"I-I-I figured he'd be more open minded now than in the past," Hermione spoke. "I just thought - "

"It's okay, Hermione," Josh said, touching her shoulder. "I guess some things never do change. Come on, let's go to the Chamber." Hermione nodded. Josh walked over and grabbed a couple of books and Neville, and the three Gryffindor walked to the Chamber of Secrets, where Josh was once again hit with the foul smell of a rotting basilisk.

"Oh dear Merlin," Hermione said, covering her nose, Neville did the same. "That smells bloody awful!"

"I know," Josh said, covering his nose. "It's the basilisk." Hermione then pulled out her wand, and then waved it.

"_Flora Ordo!"_ She said, and then the area instantly smelled of flowers, letting the three teens remove their hands away from their noses. "There, that's better. So, where should we start?"_  
_

"I was going to start on the Uprooting spell," Josh said, "With Neville. There are some roots bound to be somewhere, hanging from the ceiling, and I think you should look on something to help protect me from fire."

"Alright, I will," Hermione said, conjuring up a blanket and setting her books on them, and then took a seat and began her research.

Meanwhile, within seven minutes looking around, Josh and Neville found some roots in the ceiling and wall near the entrance to the Chamber. "Alright, these should be good enough," Neville said, opening the book and examining the roots. "These are roots from some underwater plants, but I'm sure they'll do just as fine."

Josh nodded and moved over to the roots and pulled out his wand. "I hope so," he muttered.

"Okay," Neville started. "For this to start, you have to be touching the ground, or wall in this case, at all times until the roots reach your target."

"What?" Josh said. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Neville said with a nod. "So your magic can pull up the roots, but at least it gives you a chance to use another spell."

"Okay," Josh said, then placed his hand on the wall, as close as he could next to the roots.

"Now, point your wand at your hand, and think _Natorus Mokta, _or since we haven't learned unverbally stuff, you can speak it," Neville said. "It says hear, that this part needs the most concentration, and then when you have it, you just wait, with your hand on the wall, until your roots to bind your target."

"Alright," Josh said, "I just need a target," he said, looking at Neville.

"Yeah," Neville said, not noticing that Josh was looking at him. "Maybe I can go get a snake bone or something from the Basilisk," he said, looking up to see Josh staring at him.

"Oh, yeah, a snake bone," Josh snorted, and then turned away while Neville looked at him confusedly. "_Accio Snaketooth!" _Josh said, pointing his wand towards the dead basilisk, and soon enough, a large tooth popped out of the basilisk's jaw and flew straight at Josh and Neville. "Uh oh," Josh said, "Duck!"

Neville and Josh ducked in time for the tooth to stab into the wall. Josh stood up straight, and then pulled out the large tooth and threw it on the ground. "There, target."

"Alright," Neville said, standing up straight. "Okay, try it, and remember. Concentrate!"

Josh nodded, placing his hand at the wall, and then pointed his wand at his hand, concentrated, and said, "_Natorus Mokta!" _He felt a little twinge in his hand and then waited for a bit, but the longer he waited, nothing happened.

"I don't think it worked," Neville spoke after five minutes of nothing.

"You think!" said an aggravated Josh, who then sighed, dropping his hand. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Neville said. "But we shouldn't have expected anything. This is a very advanced spell. Just keep trying." And Josh did, over and over and over, but with no result. "Are you concentrating?" Neville asked.

"Of course I'm concentrating, Neville!" Josh nearly yelled.

"Josh, are you really trying hard enough to concentrate?" Neville asked.

"I don't know," Josh said, exasperated and frustrated. "I think I am." But then sighed.

"Are you?"

"No, alright? I'm not concetrating right," Josh growled, sitting down. "Everytime, right before I say the spell, a dragon pops into my head. There is so much pressure put on me, Nev, i mean. I can't go up against a dragon, I'm only fourteen!"

"Just because you're fourteen, doesn't mean you can't handle a dragon," Hermione said, appearing next to Neville. She then sat to his right, while Neville sat to his left. "You think you can't because you think you're too young or not strong enough and weak, but that's not true. Josh, you are to strong and you have a strong fighting spirit. You are confident and very brave. You can do this. I believe you can and so does Neville. And if you believe you can, than you can do this."

Josh smiled at Hermione. "Thanks Hermione," he said. She was right and Blaise was right. He needed to believe in himself. Hermione believed him, so did Neville, and Blaise, Draco, Daphne, Tracey, Harry, Sirius, and heck, maybe even Ron probably believed in him. He was strong, as strong as Harry Potter himself. He was the one who can produce a patronus, helped fight against Voldemort and Quirrel, and he can even reject the effects of an Imperius Curse.

All his friends believed in him, and maybe it was finally the time to really believe in himself and know that he can face a menacing dragon.

Josh stood to his feet, and placed his hand on the wall next to the roots, pointed his wand at his hand, and stared at it with full concentrationg, and then said, "_Natorus Mokta!_" And Josh felt the magic soar through his arm and hand, and into the wall, and seconds later, the roots shot out of the wall and snatched up the basilisk tooth. "Yeah!" Josh celebrated. "It worked!"

Neville and Hermione stood up to their feet, both smiling for Josh. "Congratulations, Josh!" Hermione said, hugging Josh. "I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks, Hermione," Josh said, hugging her back, then let go and high fived Neville.

"Josh," Hermion spoke. "I found a way to help protect you from fire, it's a Fire Sheild spell, it's simple enough, but against a Dragon's fire, you need a decent amount of magic put into your shield."

Josh nodded, moving towards the center of the chamber. "Okay, more magic drained," he said. "I think I can handle that. What's the incantation?"

"_Igniscutum,_" Hermione said. "Just point your wand and snap your wrist while saying the incantation."

Josh nodded, kept concetration, pointed his wand, and snapped his wrist, while saying, "_Igniscutum!_" And a blue and white transparent shield appeared in front of Josh, covering his whole body. "Someone shoot fire towards it!" Josh said, holding the spell.

Hermione nodded and pulled out her wand, pointing towards Josh spell. "_Incendio!_" she said, and fire sprouted from her wand, shooting towards Josh's shield, nearly covering the whole shield and then some. Hermione then relinquished her spell, and her and Neville were relieved to see that Josh's shield was effiecent enough to withstand the fire.

"It worked," Neville said, walking forward.

"Yeah, but that was only from a witch's wand," Josh said, after letting go of his shield. "Dragon's fire is way more powerful, almost like fiendfyre, and my shield needs to be stronger. Come on, let's go to the grounds," Josh said. "I need to practice more on my Uprooting Spell." Neville and Hermione nodded, and an hour later, the three were on Hogwarts grounds, about a hundred feet from the forbidden forest.

"Remember Josh, don't forget to concentrate," Neville said as Hermione were standing a few feet away, watching Josh who nodded. Neville stood in front of Josh, while a large branch sat behind Neville which was Josh's target.

Josh kneeled down on one knee, placing his hand on the ground. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Hermione asked, hugging herself with a worried expression on her face. "I mean, what if you don't make it in time and Neville burns you terribly?"

"Hermione, it'll be fine," Josh said, pointing his wand at his hand. "_Natorus Mokta!" _He shouted, and once again felt his magic surge through his arm and through his hand and into the ground. All three then felt the ground rumble a little, and some snapping sounds, but before Josh could look up, he heard a shout.

"_Incendio Maxima!_"

While leaving his hand on the ground, Josh lifted his wand, snapping his wrist, "_Igniscutum!" _he shouted just in time and his shield was created, blocking the massive fire heading towards Josh.

Josh held his fire shield spell, while holding his hand to the ground, feeling the magic and, somehow, the movement of the roots. He smiled, knowing that it was working, but then he heard a cracking sound. He looked up and saw that his shield was breaking. "Shite," he murmured. How long were these roots taking? Shouldn't they have the branch yet?

There were more cracking sounds as Josh's shield was getting weaker, but then he heard a yelp and then fire suddenly stopped, and Josh could see again.

"Neville!" Hermione shouted, running past Josh.

Josh released his shield and was shocked to see that Neville was on the ground, his limbs and waiste strapped to the ground with the roots as he stared into the sky, wide-eyed and full of fear.

"Neville!" Josh yelled as he too ran towards Neville. "Neville, mate, I'm sorry!" He said when him and Hermione stopped next to him, and began to pull off the roots, but then, Neville began to laugh.

Josh and Hermione shared a worried glance. "Neville, are you alright?" Hermione asked.

"I'm fine," Neville answered. "I was just caught by surprise is all."

Hermione and Josh then smiled in relief and began to cut the roots with their wands, and got Neville free. "I'm really sorry about that, Neville," Josh said, helping Neville to his feet.

Neville waved him off. "It's alright, Josh," he said. "I know it was an accident."

Josh, Neville, and Hermione skipped their last class, and practiced all through the afternoon and until dinner.

Josh forced down some dinner after his spell practice, then returned to the Chamber with Neville and Blaise. "Neville, I assume you know Blaise," Josh said, when the two were in the Chamber of Secrets. "Same goes for Blaise."

"Yeah, we know each other," Blaise said lazily. "See a lot of one another over the summer."

"How's that?" Josh asked.

"We're purebloods," Blaise answered. "We're forced to go to the same parties to learn about traditional stuff, or whatever. I don't know, I never really pay attention."

Neville snorted. "Yeah, neither do I," he said.

Josh nodded and continued to show Blaise about his idea to fight agianst a dragon and about the spells he learned, which impressed Blaise, and the three boys continued to practice, Neville and Blaise both trying to learn the Uprooting spell. Neville didn't have a problem with Blaise, and Blaise didn't have a problem with Neville. They got a long well, and seemed to hellp one another out.

At midnight, Josh called a quits and the three boys left the Chamber and went to their respective houses. Neville and Josh entered their commone room and found Hermione sitting on the couch in front of the fire, reading a book. She looked up when the two boys sat near her.

"Well, how was practice?" She asked. "Do you think you're ready?"

"As i'll ever be," Josh said, sighing and leaning back into the chair he was sitting in.

"Well, I'm headin to bed," Neville said, standing up. "Night, Hermione, Josh," he said, and then left.

"Night Nev," Hermione replied, then turned to Josh. "Josh, I think you're going to be fine. As long as you concentrate, you'll do great."

Josh smiled. "Thanks," he replied. "I should get some rest," he said, standing to his feet.

"Yeah, me too," Hermione said, standing up.

"Night," Josh said, walking away.

"Josh," Hermione called. Josh stopped, and turned around. Hermione walked up to him. "How are you feeling? Ok?"

"I guess so," Josh responded, grabbing his arm, still feeling overwhelmed about this whole ordeal. "I mean, how would you feel if you had to battle a dragon?"

"I guess I'd go crazy with nerves," Hermione answered, "But you seem to be handling it okay."

"Sure," Josh said with a nod.

"Oh Josh," Hermione cried, surprising Josh by hugging him tightly. Josh slowly hugged her back, feeling the warmth of her body against his. It's what he needed; comfort. The hug last for a couple of minutes, and the two leaned apart and stared into each other's eyes. It was a couple of seconds later when Josh noticed Hermione was leaning closer and closer, but when she was inches away, Josh turned away.

"Hermione," Josh whispered. He turned to look back at Hermione whose eyes were brimming with tears. She let go of Josh and quickly ran off to her dorm, ignoring Josh's last call of her name.

Josh sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Was he giving Hermione the wrong idea? No, he couldn't think about that at the moment. He had a dragon to fight tomorrow. Josh decided to think on Hermione later, and head to bed.

Josh had been focusing so hard on learning his new spells last evening that some of his overwhelming nerves had left him. It returned in full measure, however, on the following morning.

The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure - though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there. It was a state of nervousness so advanced that he wondered whether he might just lose his head when they tried to lead him out to his dragon, and start trying to curse everyone in sight.

Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment he seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch… and then, Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to him in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching.

"Black, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now…you have to get ready for your first task."

"Alright," Josh said, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter.

"Good luck, Josh," Harry said.

"You'll do great!" Neville said, giving him a thumbs up.

"Yeah," said Josh, giving a nod.

Josh left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Josh. As she walked him down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on Josh's shoulder.

"Now, don't panic," she said, "just keep a cool head…we've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand…the main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you…are you all right?"

"Yeah," Josh heard himself say. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He was being led toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Josh saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view.

"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, "and wait for your turn, Black. Mr. Bagman is in there…he'll be telling you the - the procedure…good luck."

"Thanks," said Josh, in a flat, distant voice. He was left at the entrance of the tent. Josh went inside.

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Josh supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Josh entered, Cedric gave him a small glance, and then continued to pace.

"Joshua! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at him. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home!"

Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. "Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er - varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too… ah, yes… your task is to collect the golden egg!"

Josh glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Josh felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for this…

And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking…Josh felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then – it seemed like about a second later to Josh - Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack.

"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.

She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck and Josh knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming.

Krum went next. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.

Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-grey Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck.

Bagman then held the bag out for Josh, and he knew exactly what menacing Dragon was in there. He dipped his hand in the bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail with a number four around its neck. He felt his stomach wrench with panic as it nipped at his fingers.

"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right?"

A few minutes later, a whistle had blown somewhere.

"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off. Josh crossed his arms and watched Cedric leave, greener than ever.

Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to face with the living counterpart of his model.

It was worse than Josh could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed… yelled… gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse… Horrible pictures formed in Josh's mind as he heard: "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow"… "He's taking risks, this one!"… "Clever move - pity it didn't work!"

And then, after about fifteen minutes, Josh heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.

"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"

But he didn't shout out the marks; Josh supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd.

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Fleur was trembling from head to foot as she left the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. Him and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.

The same process started again…"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh… nearly! Careful now… good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"

Ten minutes later, Josh heard the crowd erupt into applause once more… Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown… more clapping… then, for the third time, the whistle.

"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Josh quite alone.

Josh felt much more aware of his body than usual; very aware of the way his heart was pumping fast, and his fingers tingling with fear… yet at the same time, he seemed to be outside himself, seeing the walls of the tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away.

"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Josh heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!"

Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished – it would be Josh's turn any moment.

He stood up, rubbing his fingers against his sweaty palms and waited. And then he heard the whistle blow.

Josh walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside him. And now he was walking past the trees,Knowing he was closer to the trees calmed him a bit, through a gap in the enclosure fence.

There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magicked there since he'd last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Josh didn't know or care. It was time to do what he had to do… to focus his mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was his only chance.

Josh exhaled, and walked further into the arena, keeping a close eye on the Horntail. The crowd watched in anticipation as Josh kneeled down, placing his hand on the ground. Josh pointed his wand at his hand and concentrated with all his might, but before he got a word out, the Horntail opened it's jaw, releasing a blaze of fire, shocking the audience. Josh, surprised and shocked, quickly jumped out of the way, to the right as far as he could.

He rolled on the ground, getting back on his one knee position, touching the ground, as the Dragon stopped breathing her fire, and turned to watch Josh carefully.

"That was a close one," Josh murmured, staring at the Horntail, breathing heavily. But that's when Josh noticed he was closer to the dragon than before, and that's when he realized that the Horntail's tail was coming towards him.

"Look out!" shouted many voices in the audience.

Josh moved just in time, and the dragon's tail flew over his head. Josh stood up, thinking the tail was gone, but it came back, smashing into Josh's right upper arm. Josh yelped, and the audience screamed as he flew to the ground a few feet away. He hit the ground, his right arm, his wand arm, and an intense amount of pain.

"Ooooh! Ouch!" shouted Bagman's voice.

Josh slowly sat up, mostly using his left arm. He looked up to see that the dragon had moved away from her eggs and was staring hungrily down at Josh who then got back on his knees, weakly holding his wand, but Josh wasn't going to let that get to him. He was going to show this dragon who's boss. He was determined, he was confident, he was strong.

Josh touched the ground with his left hand and weakly pointed at it with his wand, concentrated with all his might, and shouted, "_Natorus Mokta!" _And he felt a powerful amount of magic soar through his arm and hand, and into the ground, feeling a large rumble underneath him.

"Watch out!" Josh heard many voices from the audience scream out. Josh looked up to see the Horntail open her mouth and once again release her fire, that rapidly flared towards him.

Josh quickly raised his wand arm and shouted, "_Igniscotum!_" Just in time for fire to reach him, but to the Audience, it looked as if the fire engulfed Josh ending his life.

"Oh, dear Merlin!" said Bagman. "This is not good! But, oh my wizard god! What is that!?"

Josh held up his arm, ignoring the pain in his arm, and held on to the spell as if life depended on it, which it did. His other hand was on the ground, and he could still feel the magic course through him, and he knew his spell had worked, he knew he had done it.

As the Horntail contiued to fire on Josh, large tree roots appeared and broke out of the ground underneath the dragon, wrapping around its legs, wings, tail, body, and losing its snout, releasing the fire, and pulling the dragon back to the ground, where it was unable to move or get out. Everyone then saw Josh, who was protected by his shield that did have a small crack in it.

"Would you look at that!?" Bagman shouted, as the crowd cheered loudly. "He's alive!"

Josh released his fire shield spell and slowly stood up, breathing quite heavily. He moved next to the dragon that sniffed and moaned sadly, and he courageously patted the Horntail's snout, smiling.

"Well, how bout that!" Bagman shouted. "Mr. Black's got himself a new friend!"

Josh moved away from the Horntail and slowly walked over to the dragon eggs, holding his right arm that was in a lot of pain. He walked up to the golden egg and picked it up, then lifted it into the air with a big smile on his face. And the audience erupted into cheers and applause.

"Yeah!" Josh shouted in celebration.

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion has subdued the most ravenous Dragon ever! How amazing is that?!"

Josh saw the dragon keepers walking forward to subdue the Horntail, smiling in awe at Josh's accomplishment. Over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurried to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from the distance. Josh slowly made his way back to the entrance, the dragon keepers examining his work, and looking for a way to get the dragon out.

He had got through the first task, he had survived.

"That was excellent, Mr. Black!" cried Professor McGonagall as Josh stopped, panting, at the gate - which from her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his arm. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score… over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already…"

"Yeh did it, Josh!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' - "

"Thanks, Hagrid," Josh said loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Josh the dragons beforehand.

Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket. "Way to go, Black," he said. "An impressive preformance for an impressive young boy."

"Right then, Black, the first aid tent, please…" said Professor McGonagall.

Josh walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.

"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Josh inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Josh's arm, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? Oh, not so lucky… this looks quite terrible… shattered in many places, I can heal it, but you'll need to rest it up for a couple of days in a sling..."

She cleaned the small cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked Josh's arm with her wand, and he felt it warm up and heal instantly, and then gave him a sling for his arm. "Now, just sit quietly for a minute - sit! And then you can go and get your score."

She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"

Josh didn't want to sit still; he was still too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, eight people had come darting inside - Harry, followed closely by Ron, Hermione, Neville, Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, and, behind them, Draco Malfoy.

"Josh, you were brilliant!" Neville said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on his face where he had been clutching it in fear.

"You were bloody amazing! You really were!" Harry said, patting Josh on his left shoulder. Josh looked at both groups. Ron and Harry seemed a little uncomfortable, Ron for all Slytherins, Harry for Malfoy.

Josh then looked at Ron who was very white and staring at Josh as though he were a ghost.

"Josh," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet - I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Caught on, have you?" He said, smirking. "Took you long enough." Ron swallowed and nodded. "It's okay," Josh said, before Ron could get any words out. "Forget it."

"No," said Ron, "I shouldn't've -"

"Forget it about it Ron," Josh replied.

Ron grinned at him and Josh grinned back, but then was surprised when Daphne jumped up and hugged him. Harry, Neville, and Ron left, Hermione lingering a little longer, but began to leave when Daphne hugged him. She turned back and connected eyes with Josh for a second, and then left the tent.

"You scared me to bloody death, Josh!" Daphne exclaimed, letting go of Josh.

"Yeah," Tracey said. "We thought you were a goner when the fire engulfed you!"

"But it was perfect!" Blaise said, high fiving his best mate. "Best Dragon battle I've ever seen."

Draco snorted. "The only one you've ever seen," he said. "But yeah, It was pretty amazing. Way to go, Josh."

"Time out," Tracey said, turning to Draco. "What's he doing here?"

"We'll explain later," Blaise said. "But in the mean time, Josh, let's go! They'll be putting up your scores."

Picking up the golden egg, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago, Josh ducked out of the tent, Daphne by his side, Blaise, Tracey, and Draco following them.

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Daphne said, and Josh squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

"Not bad!" said Blaise as the crowd applauded.

Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

"Now that's looking good!" Tracey said, thumping Josh on the shoulder.

Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.

Ludo Bagman - ten.

"Ten?" Josh said in disbelief. "But… I nearly had my arm took off… What's he playing at?"

And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - four.

"What?" Draco bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!" Josh turned to Draco, surprised.

But Josh didn't care; he wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given her zero. He was being cheered for.

And it wasn't just Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what he was facing, most of the school had been on her side as well as Cedric's…even some of the Slytherins.

"You're tied in first place, Josh! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened - but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes… Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."

Josh re-entered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. He thought back to how he'd felt while creeping past the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before he'd walked out to face it...there was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably worse. Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He glanced at Josh, and didn't say anything to him.

"Oh, thanks Josh for telling me about the dragons, I would have died if it wasn't for you,' Josh murmured in a Cedric like voice, then murmured in his voice. "Oh no problem, Cedric. I was glad to help."

"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. "Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth - but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open… see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg - because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"

Josh left the tent, and started to walk back around the edge of the forest, by himself, feeling on top of the world. He just bested a dragon and it couldn't have gone better. He just hoped the next task wouldnt be as hard, and the only way to find that out was to open his egg and figure out the clue, whatever it was.

**A/N: Well, there you have. Josh Black vs. Hungarian Horntail. Yes! Was it good? I liked it. And ouch, Josh rejected Hermione, now what's that going to be like? I do know that. And soon, everyone's going to be friends! Even Malfoy and Harry will be friends! If Harry wants to. Sorry, it was a little while, but I was taking a break. But i'm back! And I have about 16 chaps to go. That a long ways, phew! And the Yule Ball is coming up! Who is going with who!? This is so exciting, isn't it?**


	21. Stuff

Chapter 21: Stuff

Josh, Harry, and Ron went up to the Owlery that evening to find Pigwidgeon, so that Josh could send Sirius a letter telling them that he had managed to get past his dragon. On the way, Josh would have filled Ron in on everything Sirius had told them about Karkaroff, but seemed that Harry had already told him, so it was relieving to Josh that he didn't have to explain to Ron about anything.

"It was pretty shocking to learn the Karkaroff had been a Death Eater," Ron said by the time they entered the Owlery. "I mean remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff?"

"You heard that too?" Josh asked, his arm still in a sling. Ron nodded.

"Now we know where they knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup… I'll tell you one thing, though, Harry, Josh, if it was Karkaroff who put your name in the goblet, he's going to be feeling really stupid now, isn't he? Didn't work, did it? You're still alive!" Ron said.

"Yeah," Josh said nonchalantly, and began looking around for an owl to use.

"You can use my owl," Ron said, gesturing to Pigwidgeon.

Pigwidgeon was so overexcited at the idea of a delivery he was flying around and around Ron's head, hooting incessantly. Ron snatched Pigwidgeon out of the air and held him still while Josh attached the letters to his leg.

"There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?" Ron said as he carried Pigwidgeon to the window. "You know what? I reckon you could win this tournament, Josh, I'm serious. I mean, I bet Harry could win too!"

Harry and Josh looked at one another and rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, maybe, Ron," Josh said. "But I still have a long way to go before I finish this tournament. I mean, if fighting a Dragon was the first task, I hate to see what's next, facing a giant octupus to save the girl I love?"

Ron shrugged, "Hey, I was just trying to make you feel better," he said.

"Thanks for trying," Josh replied, with a sigh.

Ron threw Pigwidgeon out of the window. Pigwidgeon plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull himself back up again; the letter attached to his leg - Josh hadn't been able to resist giving Sirius blow-by-blow accounts of exactly how he had evaded the Horntail. They watched Pigwidgeon disappear into the darkness, and then Ron spoke, "Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party, - Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now."

The three Gryffindors made their way out of the Owlery and towards the Gryffindor Tower. They were on the second floor when Josh noticed that one of his shoes were untied.

"You guys go ahead," Josh said, stopping and kneeling down to try and tie his shoe. Harry and Ron nodded and continued to walk on.

"That was quite of preformance," said a familiar voice. Josh looked up to see his cousin, Cyrus, leaning against the wall in front of him. Josh stood up, while staring at his smug looking cousin. "But I think Krum still did a way better job then you. Exited the arena unscathed."

"Right," Josh replied. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if it was you who put my name in the Goblet of Fire."

"Why the heck would I want to do that?" Cyrus said, pushing off the wall. "I mean, yeah it's fun to see my younger cousin squirm and nearly get destroyed, but I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't even know how to do that. Besides, I'd rather have a Durmstrang Champion, not some stupid Hogwarts champ. I was as mad as Kakaroff when I learned another one of you pigstarts became champ, all of us were."

"So you don't want me dead?" Josh said, keeping a wary on his cousin.

"Why would I want you dead, Josh," Cyrus said, placing an arm around his shoulders. "I mean, you're family, and according to your family's status, me and my family are the only family you have left."

"Joshua!" called a voice. Cyrus and Josh turned to see Daphne walking up to them.

"What do you have here?" Josh heard Cyrus mutter.

"Daphne," Josh said, pushing Cyrus off of him.

"Hey," Daphne greeted, stopping in front of the two boys. "Who's this?" she asked.

"No one," Josh said, quickly.

"Now, now, Josh," Cyrus said, taking a step foward. "No need to be rude. Hello, I'm Cyrus Emyrs, Josh's cousin," He greeted, holding out his hand.

Daphne took his hand, "Daphne Greengrass," she said.

"It's nice to to meet a lovely woman such as yourself, Miss Greengrass," Cyrus said, taking Daphne's hand and kissing it, making her blush a little. Josh stood there glaring hard at his cousin, clenching his hands into fists. "Josh never told me he had befriended such a beautiful and intelligent lady."

"Well, he never told me he had such a dashing and polite cousin," Daphne replied with a small smile.

"That's because i don't have one," Josh spoke up. "Did you need me for something?"

"Yes, I..." Daphne said, while looking at Cyrus's smiling face. "Don't remember."

"Well, shame, but I'm off!" Cyrus said, turning to Josh, "See you later, pal," he said, punching Josh's injured arm.

"Ow!" Josh hissed, grabbing his arm and glaring at his cousin.

Cyrus turned to Daphne. "It was a pleasure, Miss Greengrass," he said, and bowed. "I would love to see you again. Well, Goodbye," he finished and then walking away, passing Daphne. Josh watched him leave. He watched as Cyrus turned, smirked and winked and then finally took his leave.

"Your cousin sure is something," Daphne said as she began to walk. Josh rolled his eyes and followed her.

"Sure," he said. "I gotta go, they're expecting me back in Gryffindor Tower."

"Okay," was all Daphne said.

"Right," Josh said, and began to leave.

"Oh yeah!" Josh heard Daphne say, "Josh! Wait up!" she called, running after Josh who stopped and turned to her. "Me and some of the Slytherins wanted to have a party with you."

"Really?" Josh said with raised eyebrows. "Well, I can't right now, I have to show my face at the Gryffindor Common Room."

"That's okay," Daphne said. "We can do it tomorrow afternoon." Josh nodded.

"Alright," he said, and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

Daphne smiled back. "Okay," she said, and both teen parted ways.

Josh entered the Gryffindor common room and was surprised when it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee Jordan had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Josh with his wand up and tree roots strangling the head of a dragon.

Josh grinned and moved further into the Common Room. He helped himself to food; he had almost forgotten what it was like to feel properly hungry, and sat down with Neville, Harry, and Ron, while Hermione was sitting on the other side of Ron, far away from Josh who loked at her and noticed she was avoiding his gaze.

"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee, interrupting the moment as he picked up the golden egg, which Josh had left on a table, and weighed it in his hands. "Open it, Josh, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"

"She's supposed to work out the clue on her own," Hermione said, swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules…"

"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Josh spoke loud enough for Hermione to hear him. He smilde when she saw er smile a little.

"Yeah, go on, Josh, open it!" several people echoed.

Lee passed Josh the egg, and Josh dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and prised it open.

It was hollow and completely empty - but the moment Josh opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room.

"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears.

"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as Josh slammed it shut again. "Sounded like a banshee… Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Josh!"

"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!" Sophie gave him a sad look, knowing what he was so worried about.

"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing… maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Josh."

"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" said Fred.

Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was offering her. Fred grinned.

"It's all right," he said. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch -"

Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred, Josh, and a few others laughed.

"Just our little joke, Neville…"

Hermione took a jam tart. Then she said, "Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?"

"Yep," said Fred, grinning at her. He put on a high-pitched squeak and imitated a house-elf. "'Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all!' They're dead helpful… get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish."

"How do you get in there?" Hermione said in an innocently casual sort of voice.

"Easy," said Fred, "concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and -" He stopped and looked suspiciously at her. "Why?"

"Nothing," said Hermione quickly.

"Going to try and lead the house-elves out on strike now, are you?" said George. "Going to give up all the leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion?"

Several people chortled except Josh as he watched Hermione who didn't answer.

"Don't you go upsetting them and telling them they've got to take clothes and salaries!" said Fred warningly. "You'll put them off their cooking!"

Just then, Josh jumped when Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary.

"Oh - sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted over all the laughter. "I forgot - it was the custard creams we hexed -"

Within a minute, however, Neville had moulted, and once his feathers had fallen off, he reappeared looking entirely normal. He even joined in laughing.

"Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. "George and I invented them - seven Sickles each, a bargain!"

It was nearly one in the morning when Josh finally went up to the dormitory with Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. Before he pulled the curtains of his four-poster shut, Josh set his tiny model of the Hungarian Horntail on the table next to his bed, where it yawned, curled up, and closed its eyes. _Dragons, _Josh thought, as he pulled the hangings on his four-poster closed, _Hagrid had a point… they were all right, really, maybe I can make a living out of it…_

The start of December brought wind and sleet to Hogwarts. Draughty though the castle always was in winter, Josh was glad of its fires and thick walls every time he passed the Durmstrang ship on the lake, which was pitching in the high winds, its black sails billowing against the dark skies. They thought the Beauxbatons caravan was likely to be pretty chilly too. Hagrid, he noticed, was keeping Madame Maxime's horses well provided with their preferred drink of single-malt whiskey; the fumes wafting from the trough in the comer of their paddock was enough to make the entire Care of Magical Creatures class light-headed. This was unhelpful, as they were still tending the horrible skrewts and needed their wits about them.

"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not," Hagrid told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch next lesson. "Thought we'd jus' try an see if they fancied a kip… we'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes…"

There were now only ten skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill one another had not been exercised out of them. Each of them was now approaching six feet in length. Their thick gray armor; their powerful, scuttling legs; their fire-blasting ends; their stings and their suckers, combined to make the skrewts the most repulsive things Josh had ever seen. The class looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had brought out, all lined with pillows and fluffy blankets.

"We'll jus' lead 'em in here," Hagrid said, "an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens."

But the skrewts, it transpired, did not hibernate, and did not appreciate being forced into pillow-lined boxes and nailed in. Hagrid was soon yelling, "Don panic, now, don' panic!" while the skrewts rampaged around the pumpkin patch, now strewn with the smoldering wreckage of the boxes. Most of the class - Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle in the lead - had fled into Hagrid's cabin through the back door and barricaded themselves in; Harry, Ron, Josh, Hermione, Draco and Blaise, however, were among those who remained outside trying to help Hagrid.

"Oi! Shouldn't you be inside hiding with the rest of your snake buddies?" Ron said to Draco who happened to be helping Ron.

"I want to help out," Draco replied. Ron didn't say anything else and allowed the Malfoy to help out the Weasley.

Together they managed to restrain and tie up nine of the skrewts, though at the cost of numerous burns and cuts; finally, only one skrewt was left.

"Don' frighten him, now!" Hagrid shouted as Harry and Josh used their wands to shoot jets of fiery sparks at the skrewt, which was advancing menacingly on them, its sting arched, quivering, over its back. "Jus' try an slip the rope 'round his sting, so he won hurt any o' the others!"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that!" Ron shouted angrily as Harry and Josh backed into the wall of Hagrid's cabin, still holding the skrewt off with their sparks.

"Well, well, well… this does look like fun."

Rita Skeeter was leaning on Hagrid's garden fence, looking in at the mayhem. She was wearing a thick magenta cloak with a furry purple collar today, and her crocodile-skin handbag was over her arm.

Hagrid launched himself forward on top of the skrewt that was cornering Harry and Josh and flattened it; a blast of fire shot out of its end, withering the pumpkin plants nearby.

"Who're you?" Hagrid asked Rita Skeeter as he slipped a loop of rope around the skrewt's sting and tightened it.

"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter," Rita replied, beaming at him. Her gold teeth glinted.

"Thought Dumbledore said you weren' allowed inside the school anymore," said Hagrid, frowning slightly as he got off the slightly squashed skrewt and started tugging it over to its fellows.

Rita acted as though she hadn't heard what Hagrid had said. "What are these fascinating creatures called?" she asked, beaming still more widely.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts," grunted Hagrid.

"Really?" said Rita, apparently full of lively interest. "I've never heard of them before… where do they come from?"

Josh noticed a dull red flush rising up out of Hagrid's wild black beard, and his hearts sank. Where had Hagrid got the skrewts from? Hermione, who seemed to be thinking along these lines, said quickly, "They're very interesting, aren't they? Aren't they, Harry?"

"What? Oh yeah…ouch…interesting," said Harry as she stepped on his foot.

"Ah, you're here, Harry!" said Rita Skeeter as she looked around seeing Harry and Josh who was standing next to him. "And so is young Mr. Black! So you like Care of Magical Creatures, do you? One of your favorite lessons?"

"Yes," said Harry and Josh stoutly. Hagrid beamed at them.

"Lovely," said Rita. "Really lovely. Been teaching long?" she added to Hagrid. Josh noticed her eyes travel over Dean (who had a nasty cut across one cheek), Lavender (whose robes were badly singed), Seamus (who was nursing several burnt fingers), and then to the cabin windows, where most of the class stood, their noses pressed against the glass waiting to see if the coast was clear.

"This is o'ny me second year," said Hagrid.

"Lovely… I don't suppose you'd like to give an interview, would you? Share some of your experience of magical creatures? The Prophet does a zoological column every Wednesday, as I'm sure you know. We could feature these - er - Bang- Ended Scoots."

"Blast-Ended Skrewts," Hagrid said eagerly. "Er - yeah, why not?"

"Hag - Professor Hagrid, are you sure you want to do that?" Josh interuppted.

"Oh, don't be silly Josh," Skeeter said, grinning. "Of course he wants an interview."

Josh and the others stood and watch in silence as Hagrid and Rita Skeeter made arrangements to meet in the Three Broomsticks for a good long interview later that week. Then the bell rang up at the castle, signalling the end of the lesson.

"Well, goodbye, Harry! Goodbye, Joshua!" Rita Skeeter called merrily to the two boys as they set off with Ron, and Hermione. "Until Friday night, then, Hagrid!"

"She'll twist everything he says," Harry said under his breath.

"Just as long as he didn't import those skrewts illegally or anything," said Hermione desperately. They looked at one another - it was exactly the sort of thing Hagrid might do.

"Hagrid's been in loads of trouble before, and Dumbledore's never sacked him," said Ron consolingly. "Worst that can happen is Hagrid'll have to get rid of the skrewts. Sorry… did I say worst? I meant best," he added.

Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione laughed, and, feeling slightly more cheerful, went off to lunch, and then double Divination. After that, it was time for dinner, it was when Josh decided he was going to talk to Hermione, but she wasn't at dinner, nor was she in the library when Him, Harry, and Ron went to look for her afterward.

"Wonder where Hermione's got to?" Ron said as he, Josh, and Harry went back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Dunno...Balderdash," Harry said. The Fat Lady had barely begun to swing forward when the sound of racing feet behind them announced Hermione's arrival.

"Harry!" she panted, skidding to a halt beside him (the Fat Lady stared down at her, eyebrows raised). "Harry, you've got to come - you've got to come, the most amazing thing's happened- please -"

She seized Harry's arms and started to try to drag him back along the corridor.

"What's the matter?" Harry said.

"I'll show you when we get there - oh come on, quick -"

Harry looked at Josh and Ron who both looked back at Harry, intrigued.

"Okay," Harry said, starting off back down the corridor with Hermione, Josh and Ron hurrying to keep up.

"Oh don't mind me!" the Fat Lady called irritably after them. "Don't apologise for bothering me! I'll just hang here, wide open, until you get back, shall I?"

"Yeah, thanks!" Ron shouted over his shoulder.

"Hermione, where are we going?" Harry asked, after she had led them down through six floors, and started down the marble staircase into the entrance hall.

"You'll see, you'll see in a minute!" said Hermione excitedly.

She turned left at the bottom of the staircase and hurried toward the door through which Cedric Diggory had gone the night after the Goblet of Fire had regurgitated his and Josh's names. Josh hadn't been through here before. Him, Harry, and Ron followed Hermione down a flight of stone steps, but instead of ending up in a gloomy underground passage like the one that led to Snape's dungeon, they found themselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food.

"Oh hang on…" said Harry slowly, halfway down the corridor. "Wait a minute, Hermione…"

"What?" She turned around to look at him, anticipation all over her face.

"I know what this is about," said Harry, catching on.

He nudged Ron and Josh, and pointed to the painting just behind Hermione. It showed a gigantic silver fruit bowl.

"Hermione!" said Ron, cottoning on. "You're trying to rope us into that spew stuff again!"

"No, no, I'm not!" she said hastily. "And it's not spew, Ron -"

"Changed the name, have you?" said Ron, frowning at her. "What are we now, then, the House-Elf Liberation Front? I'm not barging into that kitchen and trying to make them stop work, I'm not doing it -"

"I'm not asking you to!" Hermione said impatiently. "I came down here just now, to talk to them all, and I found - oh come on, Harry, I want to show you!"

She seized Harry's arms again, pulled them in front of the picture of the giant fruit bowl, stretched out her forefinger, and tickled the huge green pear. It began to squirm, chuckling, and suddenly turned into a large green door handle. Hermione seized it, pulled the door open, and pushed Harry hard in the back, forcing him inside. She then seized Ron who seized Josh and dragged them in.

Josh had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end, when something small hurtled toward them from the middle of the room, squealing, "Harry Potter, sir!"

Josh watched the little elf run up to Harry, hit him hard in the midriff, and hugged him so tightly Josh thought Harry's ribs were going to break.

"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped.

"That's Dobby?" Josh asked Ron who nodded.

"Apparently," he said.

"It is Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed the voice from somewhere around his navel. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter has come to see me, sir!"

Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, beaming up at Harry, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes brimming with tears of happiness. Josh examined the elf, his pencil-shaped nose, the batlike ears, the long fingers and feet - all except the clothes, which were very different.

"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.

"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!"

"Winky?" said Harry. "She's here too?"

"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby, and he seized Harry's hands and pulled him off into the kitchen between the four long wooden tables that stood there. Josh and the others followed.

Each of these tables, Josh noticed as they passed them, was positioned exactly beneath the four House tables above, in the Great Hall. At the moment, they were clear of food, dinner having finished, but they supposed that an hour ago they had been laden with dishes that were then sent up through the ceiling to their counterparts above.

At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Harry past them. They were all wearing the same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied, as Winky's had been, like a toga.

Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.

"Winky, sir!" he said.

Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. Unlike Dobby, she had obviously not foraged for clothes. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears. However, while every one of Dobby's strange collection of garments was so clean and well cared for that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not taking care of her clothes at all. There were soup stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt.

"Hello, Winky," said Harry.

Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed down her front, just as they had done at the Quidditch World Cup.

"Oh dear," said Hermione. She, Josh and Ron had followed Harry and Dobby to the end of the kitchen. "Winky, don't cry, please don't…"

But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Harry.

"Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.

"Er - yeah, okay," said Harry.

Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind them, bearing a large silver tray laden with a teapot, cups for Harry, Ron, Josh, and Hermione, a milk jug, a huge hunk of chocolate that looked more like a large rock than anything and a large plate of biscuits.

"Good service!" Ron said, in an impressed voice and Josh nearly nearly laughed, but it dissolved when he saw Hermione frown at them, but the elves all looked delighted; they bowed very low and retreated.

"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked as Dobby handed around the tea.

"Only a week, Harry Potter, sir!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult indeed -"

At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed-tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though she made no effort to stem the flow.

"Dobby has travelled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby squeaked. "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!"

The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been listening and watching with interest, all looked away at these words, as though Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing. Hermione, however, said, "Good for you, Dobby!"

"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning toothily at her. "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. 'That's not the point of a house-elf,' they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid. Harry Potter...Dobby likes being free!"

The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious. Winky, however, remained where she was, though there was a definite increase in the volume other crying.

"And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!" said Dobby delightedly.

At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and lay face-down on the flagged stone floor, beating her tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with misery. Hermione hastily dropped down to her knees beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky's screeches.

"And then Dobby had the idea, Harry Potter, sir! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!"

Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes again.

"And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!"

"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly from the floor, over Winky's continued screaming and fist-beating.

"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were frightening, "but Dobby beat him down, miss… Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."

"And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you, Winky?" Hermione asked kindly.

If she had thought this would cheer up Winky, she was wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and suddenly furious.

"Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!" she squeaked. "Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"

"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But - Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you -"

But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over the holes in her hat, flattening her ears so that she couldn't hear a word, and screeched, "You is not insulting my master, madam! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, madam! Mr. Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!"

"Winky is having trouble adjusting, Harry Potter," squeaked Dobby confidentially. "Winky forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to speak her mind now, but she won't do it."

"Can't house-elves speak their minds about their masters, then?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, sir, no," said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. "'Tis part of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We upholds the family's honour, and we never speaks ill of them - though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to - to-"

Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned Harry closer. He bent forward.

Dobby whispered, "He said we is free to call him a - a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!"

Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle.

"But Dobby is not wanting to, Harry Potter," he said, talking normally again, and shaking his head so that his ears flapped. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, madam, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."

"But you can say what you like about the Malfoys now?" Harry asked him, grinning. Josh looked at the elf. The Malfoys were his masters? And that got him wondering at Draco, and gave him an idea.

A slightly fearful look came into Dobby's immense eyes.

"Dobby - Dobby could," he said doubtfully. He squared his small shoulders. "Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were - were - bad Dark wizards'."

Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror-struck by his own daring - then he rushed over to the nearest table and began banging his head on it very hard, squealing, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!".

Harry seized Dobby by the back of his tie and pulled him away from the table.

"Thank you, Harry Potter, thank you," said Dobby breathlessly, rubbing his head.

"You just need a bit of practice," Harry said.

"Practice!" squealed Winky furiously. "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way about your masters!"

"They isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" said Dobby defiantly. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"

"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" moaned Winky, tears leaking down her face once more. "My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my help! I is looking after the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her… oh what is they saying if they knew Winky was freed? Oh the shame, the shame!" She buried her face in her skirt again and bawled.

"Winky," said Hermione firmly, "I'm quite sure Mr. Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. We've seen him, you know -"

"You is seeing my master?" said Winky breathlessly, raising her tearstained face out of her skirt once more and goggling at Hermione. "You is seeing him here at Hogwarts?"

"Yeah," Jsoh said, "him and Mr. Bagman are a couple of the judges in the Triwizard Tournament."

"Mr. Bagman comes too?" squeaked Winky, and to Josh's and the others' great surpris, she looked angry again. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad wizard! My master isn't liking him, oh no, not at all!"

"Bagman - bad?" said Harry.

"Oh yes," Winky said, nodding her head furiously, "My master is telling Winky some things! But Winky is not saying… Winky - Winky keeps her master's secrets…"

She dissolved yet again in tears; they could hear her sobbing into her skirt, "Poor master, poor master, no Winky to help him no more!"

They couldn't get another sensible word out of Winky. They left her to her crying and finished their tea, while Dobby chatted happily about his life as a free elf and his plans for his wages.

"Dobby is going to buy a sweater next, Harry Potter!" he said happily, pointing at his bare chest.

"Tell you what, Dobby," said Ron, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the elf, "I'll give you the one my mum knits me this Christmas, I always get one from her. You don't mind maroon, do you?"

Dobby was delighted.

"We might have to shrink it a bit to fit you," Ron said, "but it'll go well with your tea cosy."

As they prepared to take their leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and curtsying, but Harry, Josh, and Ron loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies.

"Thanks a lot!" Harry said to the elves, who had all clustered around the door to say good night. "See you, Dobby!"

"Harry Potter… can Dobby come and see you sometimes, sir?" Dobby asked tentatively.

"'Course you can," said Harry, and Dobby beamed.

"You know what?" said Ron, once he, Josh, Hermione, and Harry had left the kitchens behind and were climbing the steps into the entrance hall again. "All these years I've been really impressed with Fred and George, nicking food from the kitchens - well, it's not exactly difficult, is it? They can't wait to give it away!"

"I think this is the best thing that could have happened to those elves, you know," said Hermione, leading the way back up the marble staircase. "Dobby coming to work here, I mean. The other elves will see how happy he is, being free, and slowly it'll dawn on them that they want that too!"

"Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky," said Harry.

"Oh she'll cheer up," said Hermione, though she sounded a bit doubtful. "Once the shock's worn off, and she's got used to Hogwarts, she'll see how much better off she is without that Crouch man."

"She seems to love him," Ron said thickly (she had just started on a cream cake).

"She doesn't think much of Bagman," Josh said. "I wonder what Crouch says at home about him? What makes Bagman so bad?"

"Probably says he's not a very good Head of Department," said Hermione, "and let's face it… he's got a point, hasn't he?"

"I'd still rather work for him than old Crouch," Ron said. "At least Bagman's got a sense of humour."

"Don't let Percy hear you saying that," Hermione said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, well, Percy wouldn't want to work for anyone with a sense of humor, would he?" said Ron, now starting on a chocolate eclair. "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cosy."

Minutes later, the four Gryffindors entered the common room, and began walking towards their dorms, except Josh, who was following Hermione.

"Hermione," Josh called. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Hermione stopped and turned to look at Josh. "I'm sorry, Josh, but I've got some things to do at the moment," she replied, then continued towards the girls' stairs. Josh sighed and ran up to her, stopping her by grabbing her arm.

"I really think we need to talk about what happened that one night," Josh said. "I mean, you've been avoiding me a lot lately, and you probably don't think I need your help cause I'm as smart as you, but I do."

"I don't want to talk about that," Hermione replied, pulling out of Josh's grip, and began walking away.

"But - "

"Josh, please, just leave me alone," Hermione said, and then ran up the stairs and to her dorm.

"What was that all about?" said a voice behind Josh who looked behind him and saw that it was Ginny, Ron's sister.

"Just stuff," Josh said, looking up the stairs, "Complicated stuff."

**A/N: There is chap 21, not that great of a chapter, kind of slow and boring. But next chapter should be fun, if not I will try and make it fun and cool! **


	22. Needing A Date

Chapter 22: Needing A Date

"Black! Zabini! Will you pay attention?"

Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Josh and Blaise jumped and looked up.

It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers); they had copied down their homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches"}.

The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Josh and Blaise, who had been joking and and laughing at the back of the class, looked up, both trying not to laugh while looking at McGonagall.

"Now that Black and Zabini have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the two of them as the two boys fell silent - "I have something to say to you all.

"The Yule Ball is approaching - a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish -"

Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both looked around at Harry. Professor McGonagall ignored them, which Josh thought was distinctly unfair, as she had just told off him and Blaise for laughing.

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -"

Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.

"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.

Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. Josh and Blaise exchanged a look, wondering what was so funny.

"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behaviour we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.

Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Black - a word, if you please."

Josh proceeded to the teacher's desk, wondering what Professor McGonagall wanted. Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, and then said, "Black, the champions and their partners -"

"What partners?" Josh asked.

Profesor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought Josh was trying to be funny.

"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Black," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."

Josh raised his eyebrows. "Dance partners?" He felt himself going red. "I'm sorry, but It's not me. I don't dance," he said quickly.

"Oh yes, you do," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."

Josh had a sudden mental image of a himself in a top hat and tails, accompanied by a girl in the sort of frilly dress mother would wear for work parties.

"I'm not dancing," he said.

"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Black."

"But - I don't -"

"You heard me, Black," said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way.

A week ago Josh would have said finding a partner for a dance would be a cinch compared to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. But now that he had done the latter, and was facing the prospect of having to dance at the ball, she thought he'd rather have another round with the dragon.

Josh had never known so many people to put their names down to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; Josh always did because his mum or his Grandfather were busy, they were always busy.

This year, however, everyone in the fourth year and above seemed to be staying, and they all seemed to Josh to be obsessed with the coming ball - or at least all the girls were, and it was amazing how many girls Hogwarts suddenly seemed to hold; he had never quite noticed that before. Girls giggling and whispering in the corridors, girls shrieking with laughter as boys passed them, girls excitedly comparing notes on what they were going to wear on Christmas night…

"Why do they have to move in packs?" Harry asked Ron and Josh as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. "How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"

"Lasso one?" Ron suggested. Josh snorted. "Got any idea who you're going to try?"

"Cause, you just have to go up to one and ask them yourselves," Josh said. "Simple."

"Easy for you to say," Ron said. "You'ra Champion, a conqueror of Dragons, and Harry's the boy-who-lived. I bet all the girls'll be lining up to go with you guys, but me? I'm ordinary, ole Ron Weasley, I'm Just a Sidekick."

But Ron was right.

A curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom Josh had never spoken in his life asked him to go to the ball with her the very next day. Josh was so taken aback he said no before he'd even stopped to consider the matter.

The girl walked off looking rather hurt, and Josh had to endure Dean's, Seamus's, Harry's and Ron's taunts about her all through History of Magic. The following day, two more girls asked him, a second year from Gryffindor and (to his horror) a fifth year from Slytherin who looked as though she might knock him out if he refused, but still took the chance and said no.

"She was quite good-looking," said Ron fairly, after he'd stopped laughing.

"She was a foot taller than him," said Harry, still chuckling a little. "Imagine what he'd look like trying to dance with her." Harry and Ron continued to laugh but it was Josh's turn to laugh when a first year Hufflepuff asked Harry who didn't have the heart to say no, but said it anyway.

"See, if that girl can ask the great Harry Potter out to the Ball," Josh started. "Then I'm sure you guys can ask someone to the ball. Harry, you can ask Cho -"

"Wha - "

" - And Ron, I'm sure there is at least a girl or two here who thinks your okay," Josh said, as they watched groups of girls passing by.

"Yeah, right," Ron said. "Who are you going to ask?"

"Oh, I have a girl in mind," Josh replied, and then stopped. "As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to ask her now!" He said, leaving Harry and Ron, turning into a different corridor.

Josh's life had definitely improved since he had gotten through the first task. He wasn't attracting nearly as much unpleasantness in the corridors anymore, which he suspected had a lot to do with his fight with one of the fiercest dragons in the world. They weren't thinking of him as the son of a murderer, but of a conqueror of a Hungarian Horntail. Josh also noticed that there seemed to be fewer Support Cedric Diggory! badges around too. Nott, of course, was still quoting Rita Skeeter's article to him at every possible opportunity, but he was getting fewer and fewer laughs out of it.

Josh walked into the library, his heart began to beating faster, nervousness overtaking him as he was about to ask a certain special girl to the Yule Ball. Maybe he can confess how he had a crush on her since last year and maybe they could start dating or something; hopefully. Josh looked around and found Daphne and Tracey in their usual spot, studying. Daphne seemed to be happy about something, so Josh smiled and walked over.

"Hey Daphne," Josh greeted, smiling widely.

"Hey Josh," Daphne replied with a smile. _Wow, she had a great smile, _Josh thought and then the butterflies began fluttering around in his stomach.

"Hey Josh," Tracey greeted, not looking at him, because she knew he wasn't here for her.

"Daphne?"

"Yes?" Daphne said, looking up at Josh.

"You know, um we've been friends for a while, and stuff," Josh started, while trying not to look Daphne in the eye, he was so nervous. "And I...I was wondering..If..If you'd." Daphne seemed to know what he was about to ask as her eyes went wide. "Would you like to go to the ball with me?" Josh said loudly and a little quick, then looked up to see Daphne's expression who seemed conflicted. Josh gave a nervous smile while Tracey sat there next to Daphne, her eyes wide and in surprise.

"Josh," Daphne said as she tried to think of what to say. "I am so sorry." she said looking a little sad. Josh's smile faded away and his expression became sad and bummed out and confused. "Someone already asked me, and I said yes." Josh's heart dropped into his stomach. "I'm sorry."

Josh swallowed, taken aback. "No, no," He said as he took a few steps back. "It's cool, it's alright," he kept saying as he took a few more steps back and then backed over a side table with a stack of books. Josh fell to the ground, some books falling n top of him. Everyone who was around bursted out laughing except Daphne and Tracey.

"Josh!" Daphne cried as she ran over to him. "Are you alright?" She asked as Josh quickly stood back up.

"I'm fine," he replied, not looking at Daphne.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I said I'm Fine!" Josh yelled at her and then quickly left out of the library. Daphne looked at his retreating form. Sad that Josh was too late to ask her, and now regretting saying yes to someone else.

The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumours about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere - for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters. Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Josh didn't know, never having had used a wizard's wireless, but he deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group. But Josh didn't care, he didn't care about anything, anymore. He was depressed and sad because he couldn't go to the Yule Ball with someone he liked, but who asked he so fast, and who else could she had said yes too?

But as term was coming to a close, there were time Josh was distracted from wallowing and from his sad thoughts, like in class. Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach sturdents much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Josh about the perfect Uprooting Spell and Fire Shield Charm he had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions - as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off. It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percy's cauldron-bottom report. Josh didn't care, he usually took this time to sleep.

Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.

"Evil, he is," Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. "Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."

"Mmm… you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" said Hermione, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes. Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack - a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.

"It's Christmas, Hermione," said Harry lazily; he was re-reading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire. Hermione looked severely over at him too.

"I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!" Hermione said, then glanced at Josh who was laying down on the carpet, in front of the fire, and staring at the ceiling, doing nothing.

"Like what?" Harry said as he watched Joey Jenkins of the Cannons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle Bats Chaser.

"And you of all, Joshua," Hermione spoke, gaining Josh's lazy attention. "You're the smartest of the boys here, you should be studying if you don't want to fail. And besides, shouldn't you have had cracked that egg's secret by now."

"I have until February the twenty fourth," Josh said lazily, and continued to stare at the ceiling. He had put his egg inside his trunl and locked it tight, He hadn't opened it since that party, and he wasn't going to any time soon. "Besides, whenever I'd open it, it wails! How in hell is there meant to be a clue in there? But what does it matter. This Triwizard Tournament is going to take me out of existence. Not like I'd mind, anyways."

"But it's suppose to take weeks to figure it out, and what has gotten into you!?" Hermione hissed. "You shouldn't be talking like that!"

"He's just depressed that Daphne said no to go with him to the Yule Ball," Harry said, nonchalantly.

"Harry!" Josh hissed, sitting up.

"What!?" Ron and Hermione shouted at the same time, and looked over at Josh, one looking a bit disgusted, the other looking a bit hurt. And at that moment, Ron had placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.

"Nice look Ron… go well with your dress robes, that will."

It was Fred and George. They sat down next to Josh, Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much damage had been done.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter," said Ron. "Why?"

"Because I want to invite him to the ball," said Fred sarcastically.

"Because _we_ want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.

"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred, waving his wand threateningly. "So… you lot got dates for the ball yet?"

"Nope," said Ron.

"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.

"Who're you going with, then?" Ron said.

"Angelina," Fredm said promptly, without a trace of embarassment.

"What?" Ron said, taken aback. "You've alread asked her?"

"Good point," Fred said. He turned and called across the room. "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnett near the fire, looked over at him. "What?" she called back.

"Want to come to tha ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred a sort of appraising look. "All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on a bit of chatting with a big grin on her face.

"There you go," Fred said to Harry and Ron. "Piece of cake."

"Yep, and I bet Josh did that with ease too when he asked his girl to the ball," George added, nudging Josh with his foor.

"Actually," Ron said, smirking. "This time, great ole Joshua Black has failed at getting a date!"

"Oi, what's he mean?" Fred said to Josh who sat up, and pulled himself next to Hermione's legs.

"I asked Daphne Greengrass to the Ball, but she said no," Josh explained. "Someone already asked her, and she said yes."

"Ooh, ouch, sorry to hear that mate," Fred said, George nodding in agreement. Fred then got to his feet, yawning, and said, "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on…"

They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across the smoldering wreck of his card castle at Harry.

"We should get a move on, you know… ask someone. He's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls." Josh looked up. He didn't want to end up with a troll or someone horrible.

Hermione let out sputters of indignation. "A pair of… what, excuse me?"

"Well - you know," said Ron, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with – with Eloise Midgen, say."

"Her acne's loads better lately - and she's really nice!" Hermione said, when Josh got an idea and looked at Hermione.

"Her nose is off-centre," said Ron.

"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"

"Er - yeah, that sounds about right," said Ron.

"You're so shallow, Ron. I'm going to bed," Hermione said, and stood up, moving towardsthe girls' staircase. Josh stood up as well, and began to follow her.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked, noticing Josh.

"Watch and learn," was all Josh said, and quickly walked over to Hermione. "Hermione!" He called right before she entered the staircase. She stopped and turned towards Josh who stopped in front of her.

"Josh," she sighed. "I don't want to talk about - "

" - It's not about that," Josh interuppted, puzzling Hermione. "Look, I was just wondering if you'd like to go to the ball with me?" he asked, his eyes full of hope. If there was anyone else to go to the ball with as friends, it would be Hermione.

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. "Joshua," she said quietly, looking down.

"Of course," Josh said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're already taken. And let me guess, Neville's beat me to it, hasn't he?"

"No," Hermione said.

"So you're not taken, yet?" Josh spoke.

"No, Josh, I am taken," Hermione said, as Josh nodded, wiping his cheek. "And it's not Neville." Josh nodded again. "I never really expected you to ask me, so the first person who asked me, I said yes. I suspected you'd go with Greengrass."

"Yeah, me to," Josh said. "She was my first choice."

"And I was your second?"

"No, Hermione, not like that," Josh quickly said. "Any other girl I asked next would have been my second choice, but I asked you because If I couldn't take someone I...well...I asked you because I wanted to go with a really great friend, and that friend was you, but now it's not. Now, I have to ask some girl who I don't really know."

Hermione nodded. "What about Tracey?"

"She's going with Blaise," Josh replied.

"Oh," Hermione breathed out, then looked up at Josh. "Look, Josh, I'm sorry - "

"No, Hermione," Josh interuppted, waving her off. "It's okay. I'll just go with someone else. Maybe someone from a different house of something, or maybe one of those french girls," he said, walking off as Hermione watched him walk away, feeling sad for him.

The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up. Josh noticed that they were the most stunning they had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite something to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armour, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.

And still Josh hadn't asked any other girl to the ball.

"I suppose there's always that ghost in the second floor, girl's bathroom, Moaning Myrtle," Blaise joked as him and Josh were walking through a corridor. "Come on, Josh, just ask someone, grit your teeth and do it."

"Look, I'll ask someone, alright," Josh said. "I just don't want to pick the wrong girl - oomph!" and Josh was ran into and the person who ran into him, fell to the ground, spilling their books. Josh looked down and saw that it was Mandy Brocklehurst.

"Oh, sorry Josh," Mandy spoke, quickly gathering her books. "I'm in a bit of hurry. Have to get these books back to the library before class begins."

"Oh, it's okay," Josh said, bending down and helping Mandy pick up her books, noticing one was an very Advanced Defense book. "Training to become an Auror or something?" he asked, handing back her books.

"What?" Mandy said, standing up and looking at Josh, then back at her Defense books. "Oh," she chuckled. "Yeah, actually, I just like Defense magic."

"Oh, really?" Josh said, half smiling. "Me too."

"Cool," Mandy said, smiling back. "Look, I'd like to talk more, but I have to get these books back before class."

"Oh right," Josh said. "I guess I'll see you later then."

"I hope so," Mandy replied, and left.

Josh watched her leave and then turned towards Blaise who was smirking at him. "What?" Josh said.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice that?" Blaise said as the two continued walking.

"Notice what?"

"That girl likes you," Blaise answered, nudging Josh with his elbow.

"You could tell that by just that small chat?"

"Oh, yeah," Blaise replied, nodding, and the two continued walking. "She was checking you out."

Josh snorted. "Yeah, right," he said, and the two turned the corridor, but not before Josh took one more look at Mandy's hurried retreating form.

For the rest of that day, and for some reason, Josh couldn't get Mandy out of his mind. Did she really like him and if so, should he ask her to the ball? But what if she was already taken like Daphne or Hermione. Of course, there was only one way to find out.

He found it hard to concentrate on Snape's Potions test. It took him a bit longer to finish the antidote than expected, and since he took longer, finishing a couple minutes before the bell, one of the last, he received a good enough passing grade.

When the bell rang, he grabbed his bag, and hurried to the dungeon door.

"I'll meet you at dinner," he said to Ron, Hermione, and Harry.

He'd just have to ask Mandy for a private word, that was all… He hurried off through the packed corridors looking for her, and (rather sooner than he had expected) he found her, emerging from the girls' bathroom, and once again bumped into Josh.

"Oh!" Mandy yelped, bumping off of Josh.

"Are you okay?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mandy replied, then chuckled. "We have to stop meeting like this. Me, literally running into you." Josh laughed.

"Yeah, maybe we should meet on better terms," He said, "Like at the Great Hall, At night, On Christmas?"

"That's a very specific meeting," Mandy said with a raised eyebrow, and then realization dawned upon on her face a second later. "Hold on a second," she said to a half smiling Josh. "Are you asking me to the Yule Ball?"

Josh nodded, "Yes, I am," he said. _Third time's the charm, _He thought. He watched as Mandy looked at him for a moment, and at that moment, Josh's heart began to sink as he lost hope that she was going to say yes, but then she smiled.

"Yeah, okay," Mandy said, smiling.

Josh's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really?" he said.

"Yeah, why not," Mandy replied, looking up at Josh who grinned back, and the two went their separate ways a minute later.

And a few minutes later, Josh was nearing the Gryffindor common room when he ran into Harry who looked annoyed at something. "You alright there, Harry?" Josh asked him.

Harry looked up and saw Josh and only said two words, "Cedric Diggory."

Josh's eyebrows shot up. "Cedric Diggory?" he repeated. "What did he do to you?"

"It's not what he did to me," Harry started, "It's what he beat me to."

"I don't undestand," Josh said. "What did he beat you to?"

"Cho Change," Harry said, when the two reached the Portrait. "Fairy lights," Harry said dully to the Fat Lady - the password had been changed the previous day.

"Yes, indeed, dear!" she trilled, straightening her new tinsel hair band as she swung forward to admit him and Josh who now knew what was bothering Harry.

Entering the common room, Josh looked around, and to his surprise he saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny and another girl were sitting with him, talking to him in what seemed to be low, soothing voices.

"What's up, Ron?" said Harry, as him and Josh joined them.

Ron looked up at Harry, a sort of blind horror in his face. "Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!"

"What?" said Harry.

"He - er - just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically.

"You what?' Harry and Josh said at the same time.

"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again. "What was I playing at? There were people - all around - I've gone mad - everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall - she was standing there talking to Diggory - and it sort of came over me - and I asked her!"

Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable. "She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then - I dunno - I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."

"She's part veela," said Harry. "Her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Cedric and got a blast of it - but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang."

Ron looked up.

"I asked her to go with me just now," Harry said dully.

"This is mad," said Ron. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone - even Josh doesn't have anyone to go with."

"Actually, I do," Josh replied, Ron and Harry looked at him questioningly. "Oh, I just asked Mandy Brocklehurst from Ravenclaw, and she said yes," he said, smiling.

"Oh, great," Ron said, even more depressingly. "Even Neville's got a date."

Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.

"Why weren't you three at dinner?" she said to Harry, Josh, and Ron, coming over to join them.

"Because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" said Ginny. "Except for Josh, he has a date."

"Really, who?" Hermione said, looking interested.

"Mandy Brocklehurst," Josh answered.

"Really?" Hermione said, impressed. Josh nodded. Hermione then turned to Ron. "All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" She said loftily. "Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you."

But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.

"Hermione - you're a girl…"

"Oh well spotted," she said acidly.

"Well - you can come with one of us!"

"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.

"Oh come on," Ron said impatiently, "we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has…"

"I can't come with you," said Hermione, "because I'm already going with someone."

"No, you're not!" said Ron.

Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!"

Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again. "Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said. "Will you come now?"

"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!" And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again.

"She's lying," said Ron flatly, watching her go.

"She's not," Josh said.

"Who is it then?" said Ron sharply.

"I don't know, she didn't tell me," Josh said. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. That's her business."

"Right," said Ron, who looked extremely put out, "this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just -"

"I can't," said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. "I'm going with - with Neville Longbottom. He asked me and I thought… well… I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year. Now, if you excuse me, I think I'll go and have dinner," she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole.

Ron goggled at Harry and Johs. "What's got into them?" he demanded, and then Harry abruptly left. Josh and Ron watched as Harry walked over to Parvati and Lavender. "What's he doing?" Ron wondered.

"I think he's gettin you and him a couple of dates to the ball," Josh replied. A minute later, Harry came back.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked.

"Just got us some dates, Ron," Harry said with a smile.

**A/N: There it is. Next Chapter is the Yule Ball. Hope you enjoyed this one. I **


	23. Yule Ball

**A/N: So, there are some date pairings; Harry and Ron still with the Patil twins, Hermione and Krum, Neville and Ginny, Josh and Mandy, William and Luna, Blaise and Tracey, Daphne and someone Josh really hates, Draco and no one.**

**To Gemelina: When you said, ps, It's Cho Chang. At first I thought you were telling me you were Cho Chang until I reread the chapter and saw I put Cho Change. I think it was just a habit when that happened, putting that e there where it wasnt suppose to go. I hate my grammatical errors, they're so annoying. Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Cho Chang. I'll take you up to Winniepeg, that's in Canada!**

Chapter 23: The Yule Ball

Despite the very heavy load of homework that the fourth years had been given for the holidays Josh wasn't really in the mood to work when term ended, and spent the week leading up to Christmas enjoying himself as fully as possible along with everyone else, leaving his egg alone until Christmas is over.

Gryffindor Tower was hardly less crowded now than during term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly too, as its inhabitants were being so much rowdier than usual. Fred and George had had a great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all over the place. Before long, however, all the Gryffindors had learned to treat food anybody else offered them with extreme caution, in case it had a Canary Cream concealed in the center, and George confided to Josh and Harry that he and Fred were now working on developing something else. The two made a mental note never to accept so much as a crisp from Fred and George in future.

Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ship's portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savoury puddings, and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about.

"It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," Josh heard her saying grumpily as he left the Great Hall behind her one evening (Ron skulking behind Harry, keen not to be spotted by Fleur). "I will not fit into my dress robes!"

"Oooh there's a tragedy," Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. "She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?"

"Hermione - who are you going to the ball with?" said Ron.

He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it. However, Hermione merely frowned and said, "I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me." Josh was a little curious himself, but he was more curious about who Daphne was going to the ball with.

"You're joking, Weasley!" said Nott, behind them. "You're not telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?"

Harry, Ron, and Josh whipped around. "Why don't you keep your mouth shut, Nott," said a voice. Josh, Harry, and Ron all looked at one another, wondering who had said that, because none of them had said that. And then from behind Nott, Draco appeared.

"Sticking up for a mudblood Malfoy, that's new," Nott said, turning to face Draco. "But you should know, going down that road, it will be one hell of a difficult journey. I mean, what would your father think?"

"Like I give a damn what my father thinks about me," Draco growled, surprising whoever was around them. "You should just learn to shut your mouth before I do it for you."

Nott glared at Draco for a few moments and then took his leave. Draco turned to Josh, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were all shocked at his actions for stick up for Hermione.

"Uh, thank you?" Hermione said unsurely. Draco gave a nod and then too, took his leave.

"What has gotten into that guy?" Ron said, watching as Draco left. "Did he lose his head or something?"

"Maybe he just changed," Josh spoke. "Wants a new and better reputation for himself."

"As what? The amazing and nice bouncing ferret?" Ron replied, laughing, and making Harry and Hermione laugh as well. Josh sighed and rolled his eyes as he followed his three friends up the marble staircase laughing heartily.

"Hermione," said Ron, looking sideways at her, suddenly frowning, "your teeth…"

"What about them?" she said.

"Well, they're different… I've just noticed…"

"Of course they are - did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave me?"

"No, I mean, they're different to how they were before he put that hex on you…they're all…straight and - and normal-sized," Ron said.

Hermione suddenly smiled very mischievously, and Josh and Harry noticed it too: It was a very different smile from the one they remembered.

"Well… when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were back to how they normally were," she said. "And I just… let her carry on a bit." She smiled even more widely. "Mum and Dad won't be too pleased. I've been trying to persuade them to let me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry on with my braces. You know, they're dentists, they just don't think teeth and magic should - look! Pigwidgeon's back!"

Ron's tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the icicle-laden banisters, two scrolls of parchment tied to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and said, "Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn't he cute?"

"Stupid little feathery git!" Ron hissed, hurrying up the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. "You bring letters to the addressee! You don't hang around showing off!"

Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his head protruding over Ron's fist. The third-year girls all looked very shocked.

"Clear off!" Ron snapped at them, waving the fist holding Pigwidgeon, who hooted more happily than ever as he soared through the air. "Here - take them, Harry," Ron added in an undertone as the third-year girls scuttled away looking scandalised. He pulled a couple of Sirius's replies off Pigwidgeon's leg. Josh and Harry took their letters and pocketed them, and they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to read them.

Everyone in the common room was much too busy in letting off more holiday steam to observe what anyone else was up to. Josh, Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat apart from everyone else by a dark window that was gradually filling up with snow, and Josh read his alone while Harry showed Ron and Hermione his letter.

_Dear Joshua,_

_Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now!_

_I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitus Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point, b__ut your way was far better, I'm impressed._

_Don't get complacent, though, Josh. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open -particularly when the person we discussed is around and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble. Keep an eye on Harry. Keep in touch, I still want to hear about anything unusual._

_Sirius_

"So, what does it say," Josh said to Harry.

"Just making sure I'm okay, and that he is," Harry said. "And to keep him informed on anything unusual. You?"

"Pretty much the same," Josh replied.

"The way he writes, You'd think he was Moody, sounds exactly like him," Harry said quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls…"

"But he's right, Harry," said Hermione, "There's something weird going on There's only suppose to be three champions, that's why it's called a Triwizard tourament. Josh still has two tasks left, one of that could put him in real danger. And that reminds me, Josh, you should really start trying to figure out what that egg means."

"Like I'm going to it out with all this mess and noise going on," Josh said, leaning back. "Stop worrying about it, Hermione. I'll be the one participating, not you. If I'm not worried, then you shouldn't worry."

"I know, but I can't help it," Hermione replied. "It's just, we have been in a lot of dangerous situations and this one is by far the worst situation ever. I can't not worry, cause I care about you - you guys, and I just have a bad feeling something very bad may happen this year."

"Hermione," Josh sighed, standing up. "Everything is going to be fine," he said, touching her arm. "There is no way anything bad is going to happen this year. Even if Voldemort himself were to try and rise again, Harry'll put a stop to it, all while not ruining my year," he joked. Hermione smiled.

"Don't joke like that," she said, slapping Josh's arm.

"Alright," Josh said, walking away from Hermione, Harry, and Ron, and leaving the common room. He exited the portrait and found Blaise leaning against the wall.

"What took you so long?" He asked, pushing off the wall.

"Got a letter from my dad," Josh answered, as the two began walking down the corridor.

"What did he say?" Blaise asked.

"Oh, just to keep my eyes open, Keep an eye on Harry, report if there is anything unusual, you know, the usual," Josh said as the two turned the corner.

"Well, if it isn't my little cousin, Joshua Black," spoke a voice. Josh and Blaise stopped, Josh grinding his teeth with his eyes closed, knowing exactly who that was. And then, he appeared from an Alcove in front of the two Hogwarts boys, dressed in his warm Durmstrang attire.

"Cyrus," Josh said. "What do you want? And what are you doing all the way up here? Shouldn't you be back in your canoe?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Cyrus said, walking up to Josh and smirked. "So, do you have a date to the ball?" he asked.

"I do," Josh answered, eyeing his cousin.

"Oh really," Cyrus said as he began to circle the two. "Was your date your first choice?"

"Not exactly," Josh said, he and Blaise watched Cyrus circle them. "Cyrus, what do you want from me?"

"It's not what I want from you," Cyrus said. "It's what I already have."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "What's that suppose to mean?" He asked, "Who're you going to the Ball with?"

"Oh, a very beautiful Slytherin girl by the name of Daphne Greengrass," Cyrus answered, smiling mischieviously or that's how it looked to Josh.

"What?" Josh said, anger rising inside of him. "You asked her? Why!?"

"Why else do I do anything that doesn't really matter?" Cyrus said, facing Josh, and twinged his nose while saying, "To torment you, make your life miserable." Josh slapped Cyrus's hand away from his face. "And on the plus side, I get to go to the ball with one of the most beautiful girls in this daft old school. So it's a win win, Josh. I get to be with that hot number, Miss Greengrass, your best friend, the girl you're practically in love with - "

" - I'm not -

"Oh yes you are, it's not that hard to spot out," Cyrus said as Josh glared at his cousin. "I take her, and I watch you suffer while we have a good time. And I just make you suffer even more by taking something else, from Miss Greengrass."

"You touch her - "

"You'll what?" Cyrus interuppted, looking down at his cousin. "You may be a stupid Triwizard Champion, but I have more knowledge about all different kinds of magical arts than you'll ever know, Joshua._ All kinds_, Trust me," he said, getting in Josh's face. "You don't want to see what I'm capable of." Cyrus then began to leave, but stopped and turned around. "How're your parents by the way? Oh yeah, I forgot, one's in Azkaban, the other is on the run, right? Must be great having parents that are criminals." He smirked.

"You would know wouldn't you," Josh retorted, wiping the smirk off of Cyrus's face. Cyrus didn't say anything else, and then took his leave.

"What did you mean by that?" Blaise asked, turning to Josh as the two continued walking.

"You remember in the Daily Prophet, back in the Quidditch World Cup, when someone put the Dark Mark in the air," Josh said, staring at Cyrus's retreating form. Blaise nodded, knowing that that mark was the mark of Voldemort. "There was only one other time I've seen that mark."

"And where was that?" Blaise asked.

Josh looked at Blaise. "On my Uncle's arm," he said.

"What?!" Blaise said, his eyes widened in shock. "Are you serious?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah," he said, then asked, "Where's Daphne?"

"She's in the Library, finishing up her schoolwork," Blaise answered, "Josh - "

"Not now, Blaise," Josh said, walking down the steps. "I have to go talk to Daphne."

Minutes later, Josh and Blaise entered the library and found Daphne and Tracey in the same area Josh found them last time, both working. Josh quickly walked up to the table.

"You're going to the ball with Cyrus? Are you serious?" He spoke heatedly.

"Oh, hey Josh, it's nice to see you. How are you? Haven't seen you in a while," Daphne said, looking up from her work and at Josh. "And yeah, I am. So?"

"Daph, you can't go to the ball with this guy," Josh said.

"Says who?" Daphne said, with a raised eyebrow.

"Says me," Josh said. "You can't go with him. He's...He's only doing this because...Look, he's just up to something. I know it."

"Oh really?" Daphne said, standing up, and began to gather her things. "Josh, you are so pathetic."

"What - " Josh breathed out, puzzled by Daphne.

"I find a really nice guy who wants to take me to the ball, who likes me for who I am, who likes what I say, and you come in here and you want to take that away from me?" Daphne said.

"No, what?" Josh said. "What do you mean he likes what you say? Have you two been hanging out?"

"Yes, Josh," Daphne replied. "I am allowed to have other friends aren't I?"

"Yeah, you are, but not with Cyrus," Josh said.

"Why?" Daphne snapped. "Why not, Josh? Why can't I be friends with Cyrus, huh?"

"Daphne, you can't trust Cyrus," Josh answered. "He always has an ulterior motive. You can't be friends with Cyrus, and you can't go to the ball with him."

"You're wrong, Josh," Daphne retorted. "Cyrus is a gentleman, one of the greatest people I've ever met."

"He's just playing you, Daph."

"No, he's not," Daphne said. "You're just blinded by your past."

"What?"

"He told me," Daphne said. "Told me what he use to do you when you were kids. He would bully and prank you with magic, but He's changed now. He's different."

"He's not different," Josh said. "He's the same arsehole that bullied me when he was a kid, It's true. Blaise tell her!" Blaise opened his mouth, but he didn't get to speak.

"Oh, so you got Blaise to think he's a jerk, don't you," Daphne said. "Blaise hasn't even met so he can't know the real Cyrus."

"Actually - "

"No, Josh, just shut up," Daphne inetruppted, heaving her bag over her shoulder, surprising Josh, Tracey, and Blaise. "I know what this is all about. This is all about how Cyrus asked me to the ball before you, isn't it? You're jealous?"

"That's bullocks!" Josh blurted out. "I'm not jealous! You must be crazy to think I'm jealous, cause I'm not. Cyrus is really a bad guy. You're just blinded by his idiotic niceness."

"You know what, Josh," Daphne started. "I don't care what you think. I'm going to the ball with Cyrus whether you like it or not. Besides, you can't tell me what to do, nor can you make me. So, back off!" she finished and then began walking away.

"Alright, fine!" Josh called after him. "Go to the stupid ball with him, I don't care! I hope you two have a ridiculously fun time!" He growled out, then intsnctively grabbed Tracey's book and threw it somewhere.

"Hey!" Tracey yelled. Josh waved her off and then he too left the library, to go to the chamber and practice his magic, relieve some anger and tension.

Josh awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day when he heard someone yelp really loudly. Wondering what had caused his abrupt return to consciousness, Josh pulled back his curtains and squinted hiseyes in the dimly lit area.

"- Don't do that!" Josh heard Harry say.

"Dobby is sorry, sir!" Something squeaked anxiously, obviously a house elf. "Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter 'Happy Christmas' and bring him a present, Sir! Harry Potter did say Dobby could come and see him sometimes, sir!"

"It's okay," said Harry. "Just - just prod me or something in future, all right, don't bend over me like that…"

Josh then watched as one by one, his roomates stirred awake. Harry's yell had awoken not just Josh, but Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. All of them were peering through the gaps in their own hangings, heavyeyed and tousle-haired.

"Someone attacking you, Harry?" Seamus asked sleepily.

"No, it's just Dobby," Harry muttered. "Go back to sleep."

"Nah… presents!" said Seamus, spotting the large pile at the foot of his bed. Josh, Ron, Dean, and Neville decided that now they were awake they might as well get down to some present-opening too. While Harry interacted with his house elf buddy, Josh slid over to the few presents on his bed and began opening them.

Hermione had given him a book called _Most Advanced Magics_; Harry and Neville, a bulging bag of Dungbombs; Sirius, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot; Fred and George had given him more test items they created with a letter promising they were the succesful ones; Blaise and Tracey, a vast box of sweets including all Josh's favorites: Licorice Wands, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees; And from Daphne, it was a silver watch and it was engraved: 'I am always yours.' There was also a note saying the if he loses this watch, it will always come back to him magically.

There was also, of course, Mrs. Weasley's usual package, including a new sweater (blue, with a picture of a simple dragon on it) and a large quantity of homemade mince pies; but of course, there was nothing from Ron, which Josh didn't care, he didn't get Ron anything either. He also didn't receive a present from his mother as she was still in Azkaban, thought Josh still held her last unopened gift from third year. Then there was one last gift, which looked to be a framed picture. Josh opened it up. It was them from second year; Josh, Blaise, Tracey, and Daphne, sitting together on a stone bench, smiling and laughing. Colin Creevey had taken it, at the end of the year when he was cured and back to his normal self.

But there was something else that wasn't there. A present from Josh's grandfather, a person Josh hadn't heard from since the summer, which was strange. He should probably write to him or ask Sirius to check on him, at least.

Harry, Josh, and Ron met up with Hermione in the common room, and they went down to breakfast together. They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers.

They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon where they were joined by Blaise to which no one cared, not even Ron; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione chose to watch Harry, Josh, Neville, Blaise, and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in. Josh noticed that Draco was also there, but he was watching from afar. And at five o'clock Hermione left, saying she was going back upstairs to get ready for the ball.

"What, you need three hours?" said Ron, looking at her incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head. "Who're you going with?" he yelled after Hermione, but she just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle.

There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball included a feast, so at seven o'clock, when it had become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned their snowball fight and trooped back to the common room. The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liquors littering the bottom other picture.

"Lairy fights, that's the one!" she giggled when they gave the password, and she swung forward to let them inside.

Josh, Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville changed into their dress robes up in their dormitory, all of them looking very self-conscious, but none as much as Ron, who surveyed himself in the long mirror in the corner with an appalled look on his face. There was just no getting around the fact that his robes looked more like a dress than anything else. In a desperate attempt to make them look more manly, he used a Severing Charm on the ruff and cuffs. It worked fairly well; at least he was now lace-free, although he hadn't done a very neat job, and the edges still looked depressingly frayed as the boys set off downstairs.

The common room looked strange, full of people wearing different colours instead of the usual mass of black. "I still can't work out how you two got the best-looking girls in the year." Josh heard Dean mutter to Harry and Ron, passing them to go meet his date, his friends and their dates following seconds later.

The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another.

"Oh no…" Josh heard Ron say suddenly as he looked around for his date.

Ron bent his knees slightly to hide behind Padma, because Fleur Delacour was passing, looking stunning in robes of silver-grey satin, and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies. When they had disappeared, Ron stood straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd.

"Where is Hermione?" he said again.

A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Nott was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which in Josh's opinion made him look like a vicar. Pansy Parkinson, in a long, golden, shimmering dress was clutching Nott's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-coloured boulders, and neither of them, Josh was pleased to see, had managed to find a partner. Blaise and Tracey appeared, both wearing black dress clothes, arm in arm, but no sign of Daphne. Josh also saw Draco in black dress robes, but he was alone.

The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue robes. Josh's eyes widened when he saw her. It was Hermione and she was astonishing. Josh was seeing her in a whole new way.

"Josh!" called a voice. Josh turned away from Hermione and towards the voice. It was Mandy Brocklehurst, dressed in dark blue dress robes, and Josh thought she was nearly as beautiful as Hermione was.

"Wow, Mandy," Josh breathed out. "You look great!"

"Why thank you," Mandy said, grinning, and Josh grinned back.

Over their heads Josh saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Santa Claus and his reindeer.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"

"Here goes nothing," Josh sighed and walked through the crowd with Mandy. Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down.

Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. Cedric and Cho were close to Josh too. And next to him was Krum and Hermione.

"Hermione," Josh greeted with a smile.

"Hi, Josh," Hermione beamed back, blushing as Josh checked her out.

She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow - or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.

She was also smiling - rather nervously, it was true - but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever.

When the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing.

Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.

Josh calmly yet nervously walked ahead, Mandy, who seemed to be enjoying herself, attached to his arm. Josh caught a sight of Harry and Ron who were shocked of Krum's date. Ron was watching Hermione with narrowed eyes, his date was looking sulky. And then he finally saw her, attached to Cyrus's arm. Daphne, dressed in the most elegant dark green dress robes. She was gorgeous, the most beautiful gir here, at least, that's what Josh thought.

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Mr. Crouch, Josh suddenly realized, was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley.

When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Josh. Josh took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness.

"I've been promoted," Percy said before Josh could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe. "I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."

"Why didn't he come?" Josh asked, glancing at Daphne and Cyrus. He wasn't looking forward to being lectured on cauldron bottoms all through dinner.

"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising - overwork. He's not as young as he was – though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehaviour of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or whatever she was called.

"Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but - well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with - that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around - no, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."

There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Josh picked his up uncertainly and looked around - there were no waiters. Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!"

And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Josh glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining - surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves? - but for once, Hermione didn't seem to be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating.

"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione. _Krum, what a dolt,_ Josh thought. _What does she see in him._

"Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these - though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains -"

"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, "don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy… one would almost think you didn't want visitors."

"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"

"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turn on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon - or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."

Meanwhile, Fleur Delacour was criticising the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies.

"Zis is nothing," she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course… zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armor in ze 'alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat." She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently.

Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Josh had the impression that Davies was too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying.

"Absolutely right," he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur. "Like that. Yeah."

"Davies, you're making us all look bad," Josh said.

"Oh, I'm sure Fleur doesn't mind," Roger Davies replied.

Josh rolled his eyes and looked around the Hall. Hagrid was sitting at one of the other staff tables; he was back in his horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top table. Josh saw him give a small wave, and looking around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals glittering in the candlelight.

Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her "Hermy-own."

"Her-my-oh-nee," she said slowly and clearly.

"Herm-own-ninny."

"Close enough," she said, catching Josh's eye and grinning. Josh smiled back, but his smile wasn't genuine. It had fakeness and jealousy.

When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.

The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Josh, who had been so curious in watching them that he had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.

"Come on," Mandy hissed, grabbing Josh and dragging him along. "We're suppose to dance."

The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune; Josh walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye (he could see Harry and Ron waving at him, sniggering), and next moment, Mandy had seized his hands, placed one around her waist, and was holding the other tightly in hers.

_It's not all that bad,_ Josh thought, revolving slowly on the spot as he steered. He kept his eyes fixed over the heads of the watching people, and very soon many of them too had come onto the dance floor, so that the champions were no longer the center of attention. Neville and Ginny were dancing nearby and Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime.

He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very gracefully for a woman so large. Mad-Eye Moody was doing an extremely ungainly two-step with Professor Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg.

"He is so creepy," Mandy whispered in Josh's ear. "That eye should not be allowed."

"Oh, come on. He's not that bad," Josh replied, smirking at Mandy who smiled back.

Josh heard the final, quavering note from the bagpipe with relief. The Weird Sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more and Josh slowly let go of Mandy.

"Let's sit down, shall we?"

"Oh - but - this is a really good one!" Mandy said as the Weird Sisters stuck up a new song, which was up tempo. "Come on, let's keep dancing."

"Er - okay," Josh said relunctantly as they began to dance next to past Fred and Anelina, who were dancing so exuberantly that people around them were backing away in fear of injury. After another song, Josh was finally able to sit while Mandy went to the bathroom. He moved over to the table with Harry, Ron, and the Patil twins.

"How's it going?" Josh asked them, sitting down and opening a bottle of butterbeer.

"Alright," Harry shrugged. Parvati looked bored, Padma was looking grumpy and Ron was glaring at Hermione and Krum, who were dancing nearby. Eventually, a Beauxbatons boy asked Parvati to dance.

"You don't mind, do you, Harry?" Parvati said.

"What?" Harry said, obviously distracted by something. Josh followed his line of sight and saw he was staring at Cho and Cedric.

"Oh never mind," Parvati snapped, leaving with the french boy to dance.

Hermione came over and sat down in Parvati's empty chair. She was a bit pink in the face from dancing.

"Hi," said Harry and Josh. Ron didn't say anything.

"It's hot, isn't it?" said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. "Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."

Ron gave her a withering look. "Viktor?" he said. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?"

Hermione looked at him in surprise. "What's up with you?" she said.

"If you don't know," said Ron scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."

Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged. She then looked at Josh who was avoiding her gaze as he was distracted by Daphne who was dancing with Cyrus. She was happy and having a good time, but the anger and jealousy was burning and boiling inside Josh. He couldn't take it, so he stood up, away from Ron and Hermione who began to argue very heartedly.

He walked and watched everyone around the Great Hall. Blaise and Tracey were having a pretty good time, still dancing on the floor. He saw his Ravenclaw buddy, William, dancing happily with the dreamy blond girl, who's name Josh found out was Luna Lovegood. And then Josh stopped, and watched everyone dancing, he could see Hermione and Ron still arguing from afar.

"Where's your date?" asked a drawling voice. Josh turned around and saw Draco leaning against the wall.

Josh shrugged, "Somewhere else by now," he said. "And yours?"

"Didn't have one," Draco replied, watching the dancing crowd. "No one wants to go to the ball with a guy who stuck up for a Muggle-born."

"Did you ask anyone who wasn't in Slytherin?"

"Even if I did, and given my name, do yo think they'd say yes?" Draco replied.

"Yeah, sorry you didn't have a date," Josh said.

"Yeah, me too," Draco said, then pointed at something. "Looks like there is something you should tend to." Josh looked up to see what Draco was pointing too, and saw that it was Hermione who was quickly leaving the Great Hall.

"Yeah, I guess I should check on her," Josh said, leaving Draco and following Hermione.

Josh left the Great Hall and saw Hermione leave the entrance hall, out the front doors and to the outside. He followed her outside. The fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as he went down the front steps. He then found himself surrounded by bushes, winding, ornamental paths; and large stone statues. Here and there, people were sitting on carve benches, and that's where he found Hermione, nearby a rose buch, crying.

Josh sighed. Only Ron could deliberately make her cry. Josh moved over and sat down next to Hermione, wrapping his arm around her shoulders where Hermione leaned into Josh.

"Ron's an arse," Josh whispered to Hermione who nodded into his chest. The two sat there comfortably for a few minutes while Hermione cried out.

"I was stupid," Hermione said, leaning on Josh's shoulder and holding his hand.

"No you're not," Josh replied. "You're one of the smartest people I know."

"No, I know," Hermione said. "Smart people can be stupid to, Josh."

"Alright," Josh said, smiling a little. "Why are you stupid?"

"Because I tried to kiss you the night before the first task," Hermione said, looking up at Josh. "I was stupid to think you'd like me like that."

"Hermione," Josh sighed, looking at her. "It's alright. You shouldn't be the one sorry. I'm the one who rejected you, I should be the one who's sorry. Look, you're one of my best friends, and you're always there for me and everything - "

"But why don't you like me?" Hermione asked.

"I do like you...as a friend," Josh said. "And I really like someone else."

"Daphne," Hermione muttered sadly, leaning back onto Josh's shoulder.

"Yeah," Josh whispered, squeezing Hermione's hand.

"What the hell is going on!?" spoke a surprised voice. Josh's and Hermione's heads snapped up to see Mandy staring at them with her mouth agape and her eyes full of anger. "I leave for five minutes and you ditch me for a nagging little know it all!?"

"Mandy, it's not what you think - "

"Shut it, Joshua Black!" Mandy growled. "How could I ever like a sneaky little bastard like you, I will never know," she said, and then left Josh and Hermione.

"Sorry," Hermione said, leaning off of Josh, and wiping her nose and cheeks with a handkerchief Josh had given her earlier.

"No, don't be," Josh replied. "I barely knew her. My friends come first." Hermione smiled at Josh who smiled back. "Come on," he said, standing up and holding out his hand. Hermione took his hand in hers and stood up, and the two began to walk when they heard voices.

"… don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."

"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it -"

"Then flee," said Snapes voice curtly. "Flee - I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."

Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her. "And what are you two doing?" he added, catching sight of Josh and Hermione on the path ahead.

Karkaroff, Josh saw, looked slightly discomposed to see them standing there. His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger.

"We're walking," he told Snape shortly as Hermione looked nervous. "Not against the law, is it?"

"Keep walking, then!" Snape snarled, and he brushed past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind him. Karkaroff hurried away after Snape.

Josh and Hermione continued down the path.

"What's got Karkaroff all worried?" Hermione muttered.

"Yeah and since when have he and Snape been on first-name terms?" Josh said slowly, the gears in his mind turning.

They had reached a large stone reindeer now, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain. The shadowy outlines of two enormous people were visible on a stone bench, watching the water in the moonlight. And then Josh heard Hagrid speak.

"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," he was saying, in an oddly husky voice.

The two of them froze. This didn't sound like the sort of scene they ought to walk in on, somehow…Josh looked around, back up the path, and saw Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies standing half-concealed in a rosebush nearby.

Hermione tapped Josh on the shoulder and jerked her head toward them, meaning that they could easily sneak off that way without being noticed, but Josh shookd his head and pulled Hermione deeper into the shadows behind the reindeer, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"What did you know, 'Agrid?" said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice.

Hermioen wasn't sure if she wanted to listen to this; she knew Hagrid would hate to be overheard in a situation like this (she certainly would have) - if it had been possible she would have put her fingers in her ears and hummed loudly, but that wasn't really an option. Instead she tried to interest herself in a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer's back, but the beetle just wasn't interesting enough to block out Hagrid's next words.

"I jus' knew… knew you were like me… Was it yer mother or yer father?"

"I - I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid…"

"It was my mother," said Hagrid quietly. "She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. 'Course, I can' remember her too well… she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well… it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her… might be dead fer all I know…"

Madame Maxime didn't say anything. And Josh listened intently…he had never heard Hagrid talk about his childhood before.

"Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh…" Hagrid's deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. "Dad raised me… but he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was…"

Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily.

"So… anyway… enough abou' me. What about you? Which side you got it on?"

But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet. "It is chilly," she said - but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. "I think I will go in now."

"Eh?" said Hagrid blankly. "No, don go! I've - I've never met another one before!"

"Anuzzer what, precisely?" said Madame Maxime, her tone icy.

"Another half-giant, o' course!" said Hagrid.

"'Ow dare you!" shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind them, Josh and Hermione heard Fleur and Roger fall out of their rosebush. "I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave - I 'ave big bones!"

She stormed away; great multicoloured swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark to make out his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin.

"C'mon," Josh said, very quietly to Hermione. "Let's go…"

"Did you know?" Hermione whispered as the two walked around, still holding hands. "About Hagrid being half-giant?"

"Not really," Josh answered. "But what gives. I mean who cares, right?"

"Let me explain," Hermione said quietly.

"Hermione," Josh ineteruppted. "I know all about Giants and they're aggressiveness, but that's not Hagrid. He's like a giant creampuff, with an obsessiveness over dragons, who cares if he's a half giant, cause I don't. What's it matter if his mother was a giantess?"

"Well…no one who knows him will care, 'cos they'll know he's not dangerous," Hermione said. "But…Joshua, they're just vicious, giants. It's like Hagrid said, it's in their natures, they're like trolls… they just like killing, everyone knows that. There aren't any left in Britain now, though."

"What happened to them?" Josh asked.

"Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got themselves killed by Aurors. There're supposed to be giants abroad, though… They hide out in mountains mostly…"

"I don't know who Maxime thinks she's kidding," Josh said, as the two passed the entrance hall. "If Hagrid's half giant, she definitely is. Big bones…the only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur." And the two stopped near the Great Hall. "Do you want to go back in?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"What about your date? Viktor?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Hermione replied, smiling at Josh. "Besides, I'm in better hands." Josh smiled back.

"Alright, let's go back to the common room then," He said, moving towards the marble staircase, but halfway up, someone called for Josh.

"Josh!"

Josh turned around. It was Daphne who was staring at him and Hermione. Once he saw Daphne, he quickly let go of Hermione's hand, and before he could take a step forward, Daphne disappeared somewhere.

Josh sighed and continued up the steps with Hermione and walked back to Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole.

Josh had to yell "Fairy lights!" before she woke them up, and when she did, they were extremely irritated. She climbed into the common room and found Ron and Harry waiting for them.

"Where the bloody hell have you two been?" Ron growled.

"We were just - "

"Just what?" Ron interuppted angrily. "Snogging out in the courtyard?"

"Whoa Ron, what's up with you?" Josh asked, puzzled by Ron's anger. Ron didn't say anything else, and then left up to his dorm. Harry walked up to Josh, patting his shoulder, then followed Ron up to the Dorms.

"I wonder what's wrong with him?" Hermione said, moving next to Josh.

"Just Ron, being Ron," Josh replied, and turned to Hermoine. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Hermione replied, throwing her arms around Josh and hugging him. Josh hugged her back, and as they moved apart, Hermione kissed him on his cheek. "Goodnight," she whispered, and then left to her dorm.

Josh watched her leave. "Oh Merlin, I'm in trouble," he said to himself.

**A/N: There it is, the Yule Ball. Not so great at a few things, and sorry about not describing the dress clothes, i don't have an imagination for frilly girls' dresses. Im a guy so if i was going to a ball i'd just wear an ordinary tuxedo. Tensions rise between Josh and Daphne, Josh had a little heart to heart moment with Hermione. Who will Josh end up with ultimately? Oh yeah, he's in trouble. **


	24. Over the Edge

**A/N: Yes, I do read your guys's reviews and I like what they say. And yeah Josh and Daphne like each other, and Hermione likes Josh, a love triangle, sort of. Oh, and Ron does like Hermione, I think, but they're not going to end up with one another. I have someone else in mind for Ron, like a slytherin, for example. **

**I know what you guys are getting at with the crushes, yeah they could get over them, but they're not, kinda like Ginny's crush on Harry that never went away, and look how that happened. They married. Next year, Josh will get a girlfriend, and Hermione may have a boyfriend too, but it won't be Josh, I can tell you that. Harry will get Cho, and Ron will be single still. Draco will also have a secret friend who is a girl too, but this is all a while off, so enjoy the complications that come before the couple stuff. **

Chapter 24: Over the Edge

Everybody got up late on Boxing Day. The Gryffindor common room was much quieter than it had been lately, many yawns punctuating the lazy conversations. Hermione's hair was bushy again; she confessed to Josh, Harry, and Neville that she had used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it for the ball, "but it's way too much bother to do every day," she said matter-of-factly, scratching a purring Crookshanks behind the ears.

Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement not to discuss their argument. They were being quite friendly to each other, though oddly formal.

Josh and Hermione wasted no time in telling Harry and Ron about the conversation they had overheard between Madame Maxime and Hagrid, but Harry didn't seem to find the news that Hagrid was a half-giant nearly as shocking as Ron did.

It was time now to think of the homework they had neglected during the first week of the holidays. Everybody seemed to be feeling rather flat now that Christmas was over - everybody except Josh, that is, who was starting (once again) to feel slightly nervous. February the twenty fourth was coming up fast and he hadn't figure out what his clue was or meant, not yet. He would take the egg to the chamber sometimes and study it, but he wasn't any closer to figuring it out since he stole the egg.

The first day of the new term arrived, and Josh set off to lessons, weighed down with books, parchment, and quills as usual, but also with the lurking worry of the task heavy in his stomach, as though he were carrying that around with him too.

Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that they couldn't see out of them in Herbology. Nobody was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, the skrewts would probably warm them up nicely, either by chasing them, or blasting off so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire.

When they arrived at Hagrid's cabin, however, they found an elderly witch with closely cropped grey hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door.

"Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," she barked at them as they struggled toward her through the snow.

"Who're you?" Ron said, staring at her. "Wheres Hagrid?"

"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said briskly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.

"He is indisposed," said Professor Grubbly-Plank shortly.

Soft and unpleasant laughter reached Josh's ears. They turned; Theodore Nott, and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class. Some of them looked gleeful, and none of them looked surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering. Josh, Harry, Ron, Hermione followed her, looking back over their shoulders at Hagrid's cabin. All the curtains were closed. Was Hagrid in there, alone and ill?

"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry said, hurrying to catch up with Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"Never you mind," she said as though she thought he was being nosy.

"I do mind, though," Harry said hotly. "What's up with him?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank acted as though she couldn't hear Harry. She led them past the paddock where the huge Beauxbatons horses were standing, huddled against the cold, and toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered.

Many of the girls "ooooohed!" at the sight of the unicorn. "Oh it's so beautiful!" whispered Lavender Brown. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"

The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow all around look grey. It was pawing the ground nervously with its golden hooves and throwing back its horned head.

"Boys keep back!" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, throwing out an arm and catching Harry hard in the chest. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it…"

She and the girls walked slowly forward toward the unicorn, leaving the boys standing near the paddock fence, watching. The moment Professor Grubbly-Plank was out of earshot. Harry turned to the others.

"What d'you reckons wrong with him?"

"You don't think a skrewt -?"

"Oh he hasn't been attacked, Potter, if that's what you're thinking," Nott said softly. "No, he's just too ashamed to show his big, ugly face."

"What d'you mean?" Josh said sharply, not looking Nott, but glancing at Blaise and Draco who were looking a little concerned.

Nott put his hand inside the pocket of his robes and pulled out a folded page of newsprint.

"There you go," he said. "Hate to break it to you, Potter, Black…"

He smirked as Ron snatched the page, unfolded it, and read it, with Josh, Harry, Seamus, Dean, and Neville looking over his shoulder. It was an article topped with a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.

_DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE_

_Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures._

_Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates._

_An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening." 'I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm," says Theodore Nott, a fourth-year student. __"We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."_

_Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions._

_"I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject. As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not - as he has always pretended - a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror._

_While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature._

_In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy and girl who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power - thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry and Sophie Potter are unaware of the unpleasant truth about their large friend – but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry and Sophie Potter, along with their fellow students, are warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants._

Josh finished reading and looked up at Ron, Harry and Neville whose mouths were hanging open.

"How did she find out?" Ron whispered.

"What d'you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid'?" Harry spat at Nott. "What's this rubbish about him" - he pointed at Crabbe - "getting a bad bite off a flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!"

Crabbe was sniggering, apparently very pleased with himself.

"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," said Nott. "Half-giant…and there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young…none of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all…they'll be worried he'll eat their kids, ha, ha…"

"You - " Harry and Ron quickly grabbed Josh before he could even lay a finger on the laughing Nott.

"Are you paying attention over there?"

Professor Grubbly-Planks voice carried over to the boys; the rest of the girls were all clustered around the unicorn now, stroking it. Harry was so angry that the Daily Prophet article shook in his hands as he turned to stare unseeingly at the unicorn, whose many magical properties Professor Grubbly-Plank was now enumerating in a loud voice, so that the group standing away from the unicorn could hear too.

"I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati Patil when the lesson had ended and they were all heading back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like…proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters…"

"What about Hagrid?" Harry said angrily as they went up the steps.

"What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"

"That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni -"

"Look at this!" Ron snarled, and shoved the Daily Prophet article under Hermione's nose.

Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction was exactly the same as Ron's. "How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"

"No," Harry said, leading the way over to the Gryffindor table and throwing himself into a chair, furious. "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about Harry, so she went ferreting around to get him back."

"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball," said Hermione quietly.

"But we would have seen her in the garden!" Josh said. "The only other thing we saw, apart from Fleur and Roger Davies, were statues and they certainly can't tell her anything, can they? Oh, and that dung beetle. No way bugs can talk. Anyway, she's not supposed to come into school anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her."

"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, ladling chicken casserole onto his plate and splashing it everywhere in his anger. "Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes listening to people."

"Like me and Hermione did, you mean," Josh said.

"We weren't trying to hear him!" Hermione said indignantly. "We didn't have any choice! The stupid prat, talking about his giantess mother where anyone could have heard him!"

"Don't call Hagrid stupid!" Ron fumed.

"We've got to go and see him," said Harry. "This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back…you do want him back?" he shot at Hermione.

"I - well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once - but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry's and Ron's furious stares.

"Guys, calm down," Josh said. "Look, We're all angry for Hagrid. But this will all pass over, like that stuff that was written about me - "

"Oi! Black, when Mandy dumped you, did you cry just like you did when your mother was imprisoned!?" shouted a voice from the Ravenclaw table.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked at Josh. "What?" Josh said cluelessly.

That evening after dinner, the four of them left the castle once more and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered.

"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry shouted, pounding on the door. "Open up!"

Hagrid didn't answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn't open. They hammered on it for ten more minutes; Ron even went and banged on one of the windows, but there was no response.

"What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione said when they had finally given up and were walking back to the school. "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"

But it seemed that Hagrid did care. They didn't see a sign of him all week. He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, they didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Nott was gloating at every possible opportunity.

"Missing your half-breed pal?" he kept whispering to the Gryffindors whenever there was a teacher around, so that he were safe from retaliation. "Missing the elephantman?"

Josh turned and faced Nott. "Nott, I don't care if I get in trouble," he said, glaring down the Slytherin. "As long as I put you in the Hospital Wing, I'll know that it'll make me feel better when I go into detention." Nott sneered back and nothing happened.

There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through January.

"Aren't you going?" Harry asked as they stood on the Hogwarts Grounds on Saturday morning..

Josh shook his head. "No," he said, his arm around his egg. "I thought I'd see if I can figure out my Egg, then see what kind of spells and curses I might need to learn. Would you like to help Hermione? I could use your brain and wits. Mind you, Blaise will be helping me too."

"I guess I could help you out," Hermione replied, moving over next to Josh.

"Have fun," Ron said as he and Harry set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates.

Josh's eyes moved over to the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, where he saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.

"He's an idiot!" Josh said, staring at Krum's dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It's freezing, it's January!"

"It's a lot colder where he comes from," Hermione said. "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."

Josh shook his head and the two turned around, only to stop when Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were blocking there away. Josh grinded his teeth in anger and annoyance.

"What do you want?" Josh said, staring down the other teens.

"Do we have to want something from you just to talk to you?" Nott said, his hands behind his back. "I just wanted to simply propose a truce between us, a peace treaty."

Josh narrowed his eyes towards Nott, having a suspicious feeling. "Why?" he asked.

"Oh, I just thought that we can finally be friends," Nott replied. "After the year is over, things will change for the better, and It may be best if we were allies. So, what do you say? Ditch the mudblood and join us in Hogsmeade for a drink."

"No," Josh said, angering Nott and his cronies. "I'd never be friends with a losers like yourselves, Nott. You're nothing. And this Muggleborn here is a way more better person than you'll ever be. She's smarter and knows more about magic than you. You are the kind of Slytherins that give Slytherins a bad name."

Nott chuckled. "You'll regret that one day, Black," he said.

"Somehow, I think I won't," Josh replied, smirking.

And then it was Nott who smirked, and a second later, he whiped his hand in front of him, holding his wand. "_Expelliarmus!"_ He shouted towards Josh, and the egg flew out of his hands and into Nott's other arm.

"Hey, give that back!" Hermione shouted.

"No," Nott replied. "I think I want to know what's inside!" He said, and then opened the egg which began to wail very loudly, causing them all the cover their ears.

"Ah! Nott, it's loud and it hurts!" Crabbe growled, covering his ears.

"Yeah, get rid of it!" Goyle yelled.

Nott grabbed the opened egg and tossed it into the lake, sinking down. "No!" Josh shouted, running forward after the wailing siezed above the water.

"Now, that's better," Nott said as him and his friends straightened up. "Sorry about your egg, well, no I'm not, but still think about that piece treaty, I think you'd want to be on the winning side if you know what I mean," he finished, and the three left.

"That arse," Josh growled, walking towards the lake.

"Josh, what are you doing? That water's freezing," Hermione spoke, grabbing Josh's arm. "You can't go in there."

Josh shrugged her off and took off his cloak. "If Krum can do it, so can I," he said to Hermione and then ran and jumped into the lake. "Bloody Hell, it's freezing!"

"Josh, I told you!" Hermione yelled. "Hurry up and get your egg before you catch something horrible!"

Josh nodded and dived under the cold water, looking down. He could see it as it was giving off light, but as he got closer, Josh didn't hear the wailing from before. He heard a lovely singing voice that sang:

_"Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you re searching, ponder this:_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took,_

_But past an hour - the prospect's black,_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."_

After that last line, the song repeated itself. Josh quickly grabbed the egg and then moved as fast as he could back to the surface. Once he breeched the surface, he sealed the egg, swimming back to shore coughing up lake water.

"Josh!" Hermione shrieked, helping Josh up to his feet. "Are you alright?" she asked, wrapping his and her cloaks around Josh.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Josh said. "I found out part of the clue, Hermione!"

"You did? How?" Hermoine asked.

"In the lake!" Josh said, "We couldn't hear it above the water, but when the egg was under water, the egg wasn't wailing, it was singing." And Josh repeated the song to Hermione while they entered the Castle where they were joing by Blaise and made there way down to the Slytherin Chamber.

"So, what exactly does it mean?" Hermione asked as she, Blaise, and Josh were looking through books for answers.

"Basically, I have to find something under water, something that I'll sorely miss," Josh explained. "And I have to do this within an hour or else I'm losing whatever I sorely miss, whatever that is - "

"Or whoever that is," Hermione said. "So, it's like playing hide and seek, but underwater. It seems simple enough."

"Simple enough?" Josh said, looking up at Hermione. "Hermione, I have to hold my breath for an _hour_. Have you done that before?" Hermione shook her head. "How the heck am I going to hold my breath for an hour?"

"You can use Transfiguration," Blaise suggested, as he was looking through an Advanced Transfiguration Book. "Turn yourself into half a fish or something."

"No, I don't think I'm ready for that level of transfiguration," Josh said, shaking his head. "I could do something wrong or something." The trio searched for a while, but Slytherin's small library was limited, and didn't have anything about holding one's breath underwater. Josh would have asked Slytherin, but he left his portrait, not wanting to be in the same room as a muggleborn. When it was dinner time, Hermione suggested they should check the library some time later since there wore more options than Slytherin's small library.

The next day, Josh, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the very back of the Charms class with a table to themselves. They were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the Summoning Charm today - the Banishing Charm. Owing to the potential for nasty accidents when objects kept flying across the room. Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions on which to practice, the theory being that these wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target. It was a good theory, but it wasn't working very well. Neville's aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room towards Professor Flitwick, for instance.

This class was an ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention. Harry had been recounting his adventures he had the previous night in whispered installments for the last half hour; how he had gone for a visit to the kitchens, visiting Dobby, and witnessing the conversation between Filch, Snape and Moody; about how Crouch serached Snape's Office, but not just him. Harry had also expressed his concerns about having to give the Marauder's map up to Moody who wanted to borrow it.

"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron whispered, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand (it soared into the air and nearly hitting Parvati in the head). "What… d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?"

"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," Harry said, waving his wand without paying much attention, so that his cushion did a sort of belly flop off the desk. "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something…"

"What?" said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier, and dropping heavily onto Flitwick's desk; then turned to Josh. "Josh…maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!"

Josh sighed and bannished a cushion across the room in the box perfectly, then turned to Ron. "Why would Snape want to put my name in the Goblet of Fire?"

Ron shrugged. "I dunno, cause you're Sirius's son," he said. "Who is the best friend of Harry's dad, who Snape hates, so in case, Snape also hates Sirius, and then hates you, just like he hates Harry."

"Oh Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head sceptically as she Banished a cushion and it flew across the room and landed in the box they were all supposed to be aiming at. "I haven't seen Snape insult Josh as much as he insults Harry." Josh pointed at Hermione and nodded.

"So why are Moody and Crouch searching Snape's office then?" Harry asked. "I doubt they're looking for extra potion ingredients."

"Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?" said Hermione in retaliation. "Its a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?"

"You just don't like Crouch because of that elf, Winky," said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the window.

"You just want to think Snape's up to something," said Hermione, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.

"I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one," said Harry grimly, and his cushion, to his very great surprise, flew straight across the room and landed neatly on top of Hermione's.

"Maybe he used to be a dark wizard or something," Josh said, sending his last cushion to the box on top of Harry's. Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at one another thinking that that could be a possiblility.

Obedient to Sirius's wish of hearing about anything odd at Hogwarts, Josh sent him a letter by brown owl that night, explaining all about what Harry told him about Mr. Crouch breaking into Snape's office, and Moody and Snape's conversation. He then turned his attention in earnest to the most urgent problem facing him: the second task. Even though he didn't show it on the outside, on the inside, Josh was getting more and more nervous.

Everytime after class, Josh would go to the library, searching for anything to help him with holding his breath underwater. He looked everywhere he could think of, and even had permission to go to the Restricted Section, but found nothing useful. Maybe he was looking in the wrong spot, and just didn't know where to really look. Hermione and Blaise would also help him out, but mostly Blaise as Hermione would be hanging out with someone else, Krum to be in fact.

Familiar flutterings of panic were starting to disturb him now, and he was finding it difficult to concentrate in class again. The lake, which Josh had always taken for granted as just another feature of the grounds, drew his eyes whenever he was near a classroom window, a great, iron grey mass of chilly water, whose dark and icy depths were starting to seem as distant as the moon.

Just as it had before when he faced the Horntail, time was slipping away as though somebody had bewitched the clocks to go extra-fast. There was a week to go before February the twenty-fourth...there were five days to go...three days to go...With two days left, Josh was withdrawn from everyone except for his friends, only being with them for help and support where ever they went, even Hagrid, who had been feeling better thanks to Dumbldore and Harry, was on his side for support, and he began teaching again too.

Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts, or because there were now only two skrewts left, or because he was trying to prove he could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank could, Josh didn't know, but Hagrid had been continuing her lessons on unicorns ever since he'd returned to work. It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing.

Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even Pansy Parkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them.

"Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun four. Don' go pure white till they're full grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin when they're babies… don mind boys so much… C'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want… give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps…

"You alrigh' Josh?" Hagrid muttered, moving aside slightly, while most of the others swarmed around the baby unicorns.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Josh replied.

"Jus' nervous, eh?" said Hagrid.

"Just a bit," Josh said.

"Josh," said Hagrid, clapping a massive hand on his shoulder, so that Josh's knees buckled under its weight, "I'd've bin worried before I saw yeh take on tha Horntail, but I know now yeh can do anythin' yeh set yer mind ter. I'm not worried at all. Yeh're goin ter be fine. Got yer clue worked out, haven' yeh?"

Josh nodded, though in truth, he still hadn't figure out how he was to survive underwater for an hour.

"Yeh're goin' ter win," Hagrid growled, patting Josh'd shoulder again. "I know it. I can feel it. Yeh're goin' ter win, Josh."

Once Josh got back to the Common Room, he dropped of his things, going back to the Library, this time with Hermione, burying their heads in more books. After two hours of looking, Josh jumped out of his chair, knocking it to the ground, grabbing the book he had and throwing it at a wall as hard as he could.

"Josh!" Hermione cried in shock. "What'd you do that for?"

"Because I'm frustrated!" Josh growled. "This is stupid, Hermione. We're never going to find out anything, never. And I'm sick of looking through these books. I just want to burn them all," he growled pulling out his wand.

"Josh, no!" Hermione said, quickly moving over to Josh and pinning against a wall of books, grabbing wrist. She looked up, as the two noticed how close they were. "Um, you can't do that."

"I know," Josh replied, wringing his wrist free, and Hermione took a few steps back. "I'm going to go for a walk, to cool down."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Hermione said, "You go ahead, I'll put away the books." Josh nodded and left the library, sighing, and grabbing his neck with both hands.

Josh stopped on the third floor, leaning on that wall with a sigh, closing his eyes and sliding to the ground. If he couldn't find a way to survive and play in this task, then there was no way he could win this Tournament. But who was he kidding, he's only 15. There's no way a boy his age could win an old tournament like this.

"Hello, Joshua," spoke a dreamy voice.

"Great, now I'm so frustrated, I'm hearing dreamy voices," Josh murmured to himself.

"Better than hearing mad voices, I expect," said another non-dreamy voice. Josh opened his eyes and turned his head, seeing two Ravenclaws standing there watching Josh with concern and curiosity. It was William Nielsen and Luna Lovegood. "Hey Josh," William greeted. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has," Josh said, standing up. "Luna." He greeted with a nod.

"Hello, Joshua," Luna said. "How are you, tonight?"

"Frustrated," Josh replied, sighing and running a hand through his hair.

"I should think so with the second task coming up," William said. "Do you know what it's going to be?"

"I do," Josh said, "I have to search for something under the lake for an hour, something i'll miss dearly, and if I don't find what Im looking for, I'll lose it forever. But there's a problem, because I have no idea how I'm going to breathe underwater without oxygen. I've looked nearly everywhere I could think of, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong books, I don't know. I mean, maybe there's some kind of spell that can turn me into a fish or something."

"I don't know about a spell," William started. "But there's always gillyweed."

"Gilly-what?" Josh said, looking at William.

"Gillyweed," William repeated. "It's a magical plant native to the Mediterranean Sea. When it is eaten by a witch or wizard, he or she grows gills and webbing between their fingers and toes, allowing them to process oxygen from water and navigate underwater more easily."

Josh's eyes lit up and his heart began to race. This was the answer he was looking for. "That's it!" He cried. "That's what I need to help me out! William, this will work, right? For an hour?"

"I think so," William said. "There are some debate among Herbologists as to the duration of the effects of Gillyweed in fresh water versus salt water, but the effects of Gillyweed in fresh water seem to last about an hour, so it is possible."

"That's good enough for me," Josh said, feeling a bit more relieved. "Where can I get some, I mean, what does it look like?"

"Well, it sort of resembles a bundle of slimy, grey-green rat tails," William answered,as Josh thought he might have seen some thing that resembled the description of gillyweed. "But where to get some? I don't - "

"I think I know where to get some," Luna said ine her dreamy voice.

"Are you sure?" Josh asked, and Luna nodded. "Alrght, great. I think I've seen some somewhere too, but if not, Could you guys get that for me before the task?"

"Sure," William said, nodding. "But you owe us one."

Josh smilde and nodded. "Alright," he said, and then took off running down the corridor. He had to get to the Chamber. He was sure he'd seen something green, slimy, and weed like in Slytherin's office where all of the potions' ingredients were. Josh ran down the stairs and made his ways down intot he dungeons, and made his way towards his magical end hallway where he began hearing shouting.

" - No!"

Josh slowed to a stop by a turning corridor, where the shouting was coming from.

"Oh, Come on," said a manly voice. "You can't keep fighting, so just let go, give in."

"I said No, Cyrus!" said a feminine voice.

_Cyrus?_ Josh thought, and began to peek around the corner where he saw Cyrus's tall figure leaning against the wall, blocking someone from view. Josh stared, wondering what the heck Cyrus was doing in the dungeons, he had no right to be there. He was suppose to be in his boat with the other bulgarian dunderheads.

But then, Cyrus was pushed away, and Josh's eyes widened as Daphne appeared, walking away from Cyrus who then violently grabbed her by the arm. "Where do you think you're going?" He said, pulling Daphne back. Josh's grounded his as quietly made his way around the corner and into a dark alcove.

"Ow, Cyrus, you're hurting me," Daphne said, trying to pull away from Cyrus who wasn't letting go. "Let me go," she said, getting more and more worried.

"No," Cyrus growled, pushing her against the wall. "I came here for a reason, and I'm not going anywhere until I ger what I came for!" He said, trailing his free hand against Daphne's clothing. Josh looked over at the couple, his eyes raging with fire, a deep angry burning sensationg in the pit of his stomach as he pulled out his wand.

"Cyrus, please stop," Daphne spoke, her voice quivering, struggling against Cyrus who then pulled out his wand and pointing it at her chest.

"Stop struggling, Miss Greengrass," Cryus said. "Or this may be more worse for you than it already is." Cyrus lifted his wand that began to heat up at the tip. "This may hurt you more than it will me." Josh lifeted his wand, and pointed it at Cyrus. It was time for Cyrus to pay for what he did to Josh when he was younger, and for what he was trying to do to Daphne right now, and he had to stop him, and then used the first thing that came to Josh's mind.

"_Fulgur!_" Josh shouted as loudly as he could. Cyrus stopped in surprise, hearing the voice and leaned off Daphne. He turned around where he was shocked to see a purple bolt of lightning soar from Josh's wand and hit him directly square into the chest, electrocuting him and sending him flying into wall away from Daphne.

Josh made his way over to Cyrus who began struggling up to his feet while Daphne slid to the ground crying in relief. Cyrus stood to his feet, slowly lifting his wand. Josh lifted his wand and shouted, "_Fulgur!_" This time, the lightning bolt was blue when it shot out of Josh's wand, hitting Cyrus in the chest, throwing him back into the wall, that cracked. Josh walked over and stood over him.

"You had to try and take something that wasn't yours to take," Josh growled, kneeling next to Cyrus who was breathing heavily. "And from the very person I care most about. I'm sick of you Cyrus. I was so tired of you bullying me back then where I couldn't do anything, but now, _now_, I can do something about, Cyrus." Cyrus looked up at Josh and grinned weakly.

"Oh, Josh," he groaned out. "That's what I was looking for, that anger. That's what's going to - " But he never finished his sentence as Josh punched him in the jaw.

"Shut it!" Josh growled, then stood up and walked over to Daphne who was crying. Josh kneeled next to her. "Daphne," he said quietly, touching her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Daphne nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, looking up, her eyes widening. "Look out!" She cried, tackling Josh down in time for an orange spell to miss them and hit the wall, leaving a black scorch mark. Josh rolled and jumped up, turning to face Cyrus who was already on his feet, pointing his wand at Josh.

"You are such a pain," Cyrus growled.

"You have no idea," Josh replied, glaring down Cyrus, pointing his wand back at Cyrus.

"Do you really want to do this, Josh?" Cyrus said. "I mean, me, a very skilled wizard, and the only real famliy you have left."

"You're not my real family," Josh said, then glanced at Daphne then back to Josh. "Not anymore."

"If that's what you want," Cyrus said, whipping his wand, and a dark red curse flew out of Cyrus's wand and soared to Josh who ducked under the spell and then whipped his own wand towards Cyrus.

"_Expelliarmus_!" Josh shouted, shooting the disarming spell towards Cyrus who quickly put up a shield spell.

"Oh, please, Josh," Cyrus said. "Those elementary spells won't work on me." Then whipped his wand, shooting a purple curse towards Josh who rolled out of the way, and quickly got up and waved his wand in an arc in front of him while shouting.

"_Offensio Fluctus_," And large arc-like waves of green magic flew towards Cyrus who quickly but up a shield, but the shield was broken by Josh's spell, sending Cyrus back into the wall. "How's that for elementary," Josh said, as Cyrus struggled up to feet.

"That was a good spell," Cyrus groaned out. "But still not good enough," he added, twirling his wand and throwing it out in front of him, and orange circular waves of magic shot out, getting as big as the hallway, one after the other towards Josh, who couldn't dodge this one.

"Protego!" Josh shouted, lifted his wand up, but once the orange circular waves hit his shield, it shattered, and went through Josh who felt a lound pounding and very high pitched sound in his ears. Josh yelled out, dropping his wand, and dropping to his knees, covering his ears in pain, but his hands weren't sound proof enough.

"Stop!" Daphne cried out, and Cyrus released his spell, looking towards Daphne, as he forgot she was there.

The ringing and pounding was gone, and Josh released his ears, as they felt wet with something. He looked at his hands and saw that his palms were covered in some blood, and then he could feel the blood trickle down from his ears and his nose.

"Oh, Daphne, I forgot you were here," Cyrus said as Josh stared at the blood in his hands. "Don't worry, when I'm finished with Josh, we'll get back to our little things."

Cyrus turned to Josh who was still staring at his hand. He began to shake as the anger boiled deep inside Josh, in his insides, in his heart, in his mind. Cyrus meant to really harm Josh, but he couldn't let his cousin do that to him or to Daphne. He had to stop him, whatever it took. Josh slowly looked up at Cyrus who was casually walking up to Josh.

"You're probably wondering why I'm doing all of this," Cyrus said, stopping in front of Josh. "Bullying you, torturing you, taking Daphne away from you. Well, because you're a champion, when you're not suppose to be one. And since I had a connection you, Karkaroff wanted be to throw you off balance so Krum can win. He knew that your impressive preformance would make you a threat in this tournament, so you had to be taken care off." Cyrus raised his wand and pointed at Josh's hand. "I'm sorry, Josh, I really am - eh, well, no I'm not," he said, smiling.

Josh then took this as his chance, and surprised Cyrus by quickly grabbing Cyrus's wand arm and pushing up as a curse shot out hitting the wall. Josh stood up and pushed Cyrus into the wall, grabbing Cyrus's wand out of his wand, and punching him in the side of the eye, causing him to fall the ground. Josh stood over Cyrus, pointing Cyrus's own wand at him.

"You underestimate me, Cyrus," Josh growled out as Cyrus froze, glaring up at his younger cousin. "I would never let you do anything to me or to harm Daphne," he said breathing heavily, as Cyrus noticed Josh's eyes were bloodshot. "I can't let you harm anyone else." And only one curse came to Josh's mind. One he had be wanting to secretly use since it was used on him, and somehow, Cyrus knew too as he was smirking.

"Do it, Josh," He said. "Prove to me how powerful you really are. Show me how I was mistaken. Put the fear into my eyes." Josh's hand began to shake, his heart began to race, and his breathe began to quicken. "Do it!" Cyrus shouted, and that was all the push Josh needed.

"_Crucio_!" he shouted, and his curse soared and hit Cyrus in the chest. Cyrus began to shout out and writhe in pain, but Josh didn't care. All he wanted was Cyrus to suffer. And all the anger in Josh appeared. His anger for being put in the tournament, his anger for Sirius leaving him and his mother, his anger for his mother leaving, for his grandfather leaving, his anger against Nott and some of the other Slytherins, and his anger for Sirius favoriting Harry more than his own son.

And a minute passed as Cyrus still screamed out in pain, and then two, then three minutes. "Josh, Stop!" Daphne shouted, pulling Josh's arm away from Cyrus, and the curse was released, but Josh had a mad look in his eyes as he stared down Cyrus, and began to lift his wand again.

"Josh!" Daphne cried, turning his face to hers, and Josh's grey, bloodshot eyes met her blue ones, and his anger began to dissolve away, and then wand fell from his hand.

"Daphne?" Josh whispered, and Daphne nodded, tears flowing out of her eyes. Once more, Josh's breath quickened and his heart raced, but not in anger, but nerves. He took a step back and turned around towards Cyrus, shocked to find Professor Snape there, tending to the young man who was unconscious. "Snape," Josh breathed out in fright.

Snape looked up at Josh, but his eyes weren't full of anger as usual, but of concern. "Black," he said normally, standing up.

Josh looked down at Cyrus and began to shake his head, breathing faster, his heart racing, turning from nerves to fright. He was afraid now. Afraid of what he had done. Ashamed of what he had done, tears began to slowly fall from his eyes for the first time in a while, and he did the only thing he could think of. He ran.

**A/N: There you go. Chapter 24. Wow, what was that!? Josh did something bad, holy moly. Well, it was bound to happen, am I right? Well, what do you think?**

**As for the spells:**

**Josh used Offensio Fluctus meaning Shock Wave - basically knocks the target back with a shock wave, even shocking them. **

**And then Fulgur - which is the Lightning Bolt Curse, shoots lightning from his wand, and there are different levels of power that can be used. The more magic use in the spell, the more powerful the curse. It can eventually kill someone.**

**And Cyrus. He first us a Scorching Jinx, which is light a skin burning curse. **

**And the last one he used was a Sonic Blast Jinx - as you read, it gives you a very painful ringing in your ears, it can make you bleed from every hole in your head, even your eyes, depending on how much magic is put behind it. It can also be used to kill. **

**I'd like to thank the 22thDoctor for giving me the few ideas for the curses and jinxes. **


	25. Task Two

Chapter 25: Task Two

Josh ran out of the dungeons and through the castle, and then ran out onto Hogwarts Grounds. He ran as fast as he could towards the Forbidden forest. He wanted to get away. No, he needed to get away from it all. What he had done, was a horrible thing. So horrible, how could he ever forgive himself. He just preformed an unforgivable curse. A curse so dark that it would give him a one way ticket to Azkaban.

Josh was running, he needed to get away. He ran through the Forbidden forest, not sure how far or where he was actually going. He just wanted to get away from the things he had just accomplished. He ran faster and faster, getting tired and slowly down, but suddenly, he tripped on a root, slamming down on his stomach, losing his breath. Josh slowly pushed himself of from the ground, and tried to catch his breath.

Once he done that, Josh walked over and sat on a fallen tree. He looked at his hands that still had some blood on them; his blood. He began thinking about what he had done. He had used an unforgivable curse and the worst part was that he had liked it. He had liked it when he tortured Cyrus, and if Daphne hadn´t stopped him, he could have done something really horrible.

"So what if you did do something terrible?" said a voice. Josh's head snapped up. That voice was really nearby and it sounded strangely familiar. "It would have given you the peace you needed," said the voice.

Josh stood up and looked for his wand. "Oh, you won't find it," said the voice. "You left it back at the castle like the young naïve kid you are."

"Who are you?" Josh yelled out. "Show yourself!" he demanded, and right in front of Josh, a person materialized out in front of him. He was taller than Josh, but he too had black short black hair, wore black clothes, but his eyes were red. There was only two other times Josh had seen this figure, and both times, he was facing down a boggart.

"Hello, Josh," it said. "And well, I'm you, from the future."

Josh shook his head, falling on the log. "No," he breathed. "No, you're not real. You're just a hallucination."

"A hallucination?" The older and eviler Josh said. "If that's what I am, do you know what that makes you?" he asked. Josh shook his head. "It makes you crazy! But you're not a crazy person Josh; you're as sane as that Looney Lovegood."

"Her name is Luna," Josh corrected, still breathing heavily.

"Oh, yeah, of course, of course," the evil Josh said, leaning against a tree. "Look, I'm just saying it like it is. You're not crazy. I am as real as you are; I'm just here from my time, about 5 years from now. And oh yeah, that's when things get really good. I mean, one, you kill the great master of death, Harry Potter!"

"No!" Josh cried. "No, that can be. Harry's my friend. Why would I kill them?"

"Oh, Josh," said Evil Josh. "You don't just kill Potter, but Granger, Weasley, oh Weasley, the torturing was so fun! Nielsen, Longbottom, Lovegood, Finnigan, Thomas, Davis, Weasley Twins, let's see, who else? Oh yeah, Malfoy, Snape and your own Grandfather, Flitwick, Shacklebot; yeah you pretty much start WWIII, or you're going to."

"Shut up!" Josh shouted.

"Hey man," The Evil Josh said. "I'm just telling you what I know and well, what I did. You are going to live up to one of the greatest sorcerers of all, Lord Voldemort. You're going to finish his work, all thanks to that smart wizard by the name of Dolohov."

"What?" Josh said, finally looking at the other Josh.

"Dolohov," Evil Josh repeated. "He's the one who set you on my path, the right path. He basically killed everyone you loved, which gave more rage the Voldemort could ever imagine and making way stronger than that no nose loser." Josh stared at his evil, older counterpart. "Well, he does kill a lot of people you love starting Next year, or maybe this year, I can never remember."

"You're lying," Josh said.

"Ha!" Evil Josh laughed. "I wouldn't lie to myself! Come on, Josh, you know that. We lie to our friends, and we keep secrets!" Josh shook his head. "Yes, attacking a muggle was our first big secret. No one knows but Sirius, but he won't tell anyone. Don't worry, no one will find out, but what's great is that you go back to that muggle and you kill him!"

"No!" Josh cried, shaking his head and covering his ears.

"Yes!" Evil Josh yelled. "He's your first killing, next year, and it was all for practice. And the smart thing you did? You threw up the Dark Mark over his house, which in set covered your tracks."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Josh began to say.

"No, Josh!" Evil Josh shouted, moving in front of Josh, grabbing his shirt and shaking him. "You are going to become me! And we are going to place this world into darkness! They took what I loved dearly and if I have to live in darkness, so do they!" Josh closed his eyes as shook him. "This is what you are going to become Josh. There is nothing you can do to stop it! This is your future, Josh! Josh! Josh –"

"Joshua!" cried a familiar voice. "Joshua, please snap out of it!"

Josh wasn't being shaken anymore, so he opened his eyes to see his worried father's face. He looked around and saw that his evil counterpart was nowhere to be seen.

"Josh," Sirius said softly. "What happened? What are you doing here in the forbidden forest, far away from the castle?"

Josh stood up and walked away from Sirius. "Nothing," he said stubbornly. "Why would you care? All you care about is Harry."

"I care because you are my son, Josh," Sirius replied. "You are important, and Harry is just as important, he's my godson. Now that his parents are gone, I have to look out for him, and you."

"Fat lots of good you are," Josh spoke sarcastically. "I mean, you are on the run from the Ministry. How you are even supposed to do your father/godfather duties is beyond me."

Sirius sighed. "Josh, let's talk about this later," He said, "And get you back up to the castle."

"Of course you'd say that," Josh replied. "If I was Harry, you'd probably want to talk about it, work out the feels and all, right?"

"Josh," Sirius sighed.

"No!" Josh cried. "Tell me why you favor Harry over your son. Why is he better than me? Why are things going down in a spiral," he said as he began to tear up. "What is wrong with me? Why did I torture Cyrus? Why am I going dark, dad?" Josh finished, and began crying.

Sirius watched his son in shock, feeling the regret for not being there for his own son, and for his punishment, his son changed to be so different than his parents. Sirius moved forward to hug his son.

"No!" Josh cried when Sirius hugged him, trying to push him away, but Sirius held his grip, and Josh too let go and let his father hug him.

"I am so sorry, Josh," Sirius said. "This is all my fault. I should have been there, but my selfishness got in the way. I'm so sorry."

A few minutes later, Josh and Sirius were sitting down and Josh was telling his father all about what happened back at the castle.

"- And the worst part was…I like it, dad," He said. "It felt so good to relieve that anger on him, but I couldn't stop, I didn't want to." Sirius nodded. "What's happening to me?"

"Look, you did nothing wrong," Sirius said. "He was attacking Daphne and you were there to stop him. You may have gone over the edge a bit, but you didn't do anything too Horrible. Thank merlin Daphne was there to stop you."

"Professor Snape was there too, but he didn't stop me," Josh added. Sirius sighed heavily.

"Probably hoping you'd be caught by another teacher so you could get expelled," Sirius muttered angrily.

Josh shook his head. "I don't know, but it didn't seem that that's what he was doing there," he said.

Sirius shrugged. "Josh look," he started. "You're angry, I get it. But things will change, I promise. Things will get better. A wise man once told me that it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." And the two began to talk more until the sun began to rise, talking more about Josh's anger and Sirius replying with fatherly advice and other things like school and the tournament.

"So, you save Daphne," Sirius began to say. Josh turned to look at his father while he tore a leaf apart. "Do you like her?"

Josh nervously laughed. "Of course not," he said, blushing a little. "I just care about her as a friend, nothing more."

Sirius smirked. "Son, you are talking to the guy who had more dates than average wizard. I was quite the ladies' man. If you need advice, all you need is to ask."

"How do I tell a girl I like her?" Josh asked.

"Oh, you don't want to do that, you'd look stupid," Sirius replied. "You want to be interested in her and talk to her like you are but you're not."

"What?" Josh said.

"You –"

POP! "Joshy Black needs to hurry!" interrupted a squeaky voice of Dobby who surprised the two Blacks. "The second task starts in ten minutes –"

"Ten minutes?" Josh shouted, standing to his feet. "Ten - ten minutes?"

Josh looked down at his watch. Dobby was right. It was twenty past nine. He was so immersed with bonding with his Father he had lost track of time. A large, dead weight seemed to fall through Josh's chest into his stomach.

"Hurry, Joshy Black!" squeaked Dobby, plucking at Josh's sleeve. "You is supposed to be down by the lake with the other champions, sir!"

"But ten minutes?" Josh said. "How am I going to make that in time?"

"Maybe I could be of assistance," said a low voice. Everyone turned to see a familiar looking centaur.

"Firenze," Josh breathed out.

"Ah, you remember," Firenze said, and gave a nod.

"How could I forget," Josh replied, giving a small smile, making his way towards Firenze.

"Wait!" Dobby squeaked, running towards Josh. "I was tolds to give you this!" And shoved what he had into Josh's hand. It was gillyweed. "A boy Willy Nilly gave this to Harry Potter to give to me to give to yous!"

"Thanks," Josh said, pocketing the gillyweed, and then mounted Firenze. Sirius walked up to his son. "Dad?"

"Josh," Sirius said, giving a nod, "Good luck." Josh smiled and then Firenze galloped away from Sirius and Dobby.

"You don't happen to know what the second task is by any chance." Josh shouted over the centaur's galloping.

"I do," Firenze yelled. "The stars tell me of a young Black who will go into the Lake and find the thing he misses most which is a girl of the color green and happens to have a very grassy attitude."

"Wha – "Josh muttered. "What does that mean?"

"You will know," Firenze said, and a second later, they were out of the forest and stopped in front of the lake. Josh hopped off the Firenze. "Remember," he said. "You only have the hour, or all is lost." Josh nodded.

Josh ran along the bank of the lake. He saw the seats that had encircled the dragons' enclosure in November were now ranged along the opposite bank, rising in stands that were packed to the bursting point and reflected in the lake below. The excited babble of the crowd echoed strangely across the water as Josh ran flat-out around the other side of the lake toward the judges, who were sitting at another gold-draped table at the water's edge. Cedric, Fleur, and Krum were beside the judges' table, watching Josh sprint toward them.

"I'm…here…" Josh panted, skidding to a halt in the mud and accidentally splattering Fleur's robes.

"Where have you been?" said a bossy, disapproving voice. "The task's about to start!"

Josh huffed and puffed as he looked around. Percy Weasley was sitting at the judges' table - Mr. Crouch had failed to turn up again.

"Now, now, Percy!" said Ludo Bagman, who was looking intensely relieved to see Josh. "Let him catch his breath!"

Dumbledore smiled at Josh, but Karkaroff and Madame Maxime didn't look at all pleased to see her, especially Karkaroff who was sneering at him. It was obvious from the looks on their faces that they had thought he wasn't going to turn up.

Ludo Bagman was now moving among the champions, spacing them along the bank at intervals of ten feet. Josh was on the very end of the line, next to Krum, who was wearing swimming trunks and was holding his wand ready.

"Shite," Josh muttered to himself as he began stripping down to his pants and undershirt. He didn't have his wand, so how was he going to finish the task.

"All right, Joshua?" Bagman whispered as he moved Josh a few feet farther away from Krum. "Know what you're going to do?"

"Yeah," Josh lied, nodding.

Bagman gave Josh's shoulder a quick squeeze and returned to the judges' table; he pointed his wand at his throat as he had done at the World Cup, said, "_Sonorus_!" and his voice boomed out across the dark water toward the stands.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One…two…three!"

The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Josh pulled the handful of gillyweed out of his pocket, stuffed it into his mouth, and waded out into the lake.

It was so cold he felt the skin on his legs searing as though this were fire, not icy water. His skin shivered as he walked in deeper; now the water was over his knees, and his rapidly numbing feet were slipping over silt and flat, slimy stones. He was chewing the gillyweed as hard and fast as he could; it felt unpleasantly slimy and rubbery, like octopus tentacles. Waist-deep in the freezing water he stopped, swallowed, and waited for something to happen.

He could hear laughter in the crowd and knew he must look stupid, walking into the lake without showing any sign of magical power. The part of him that was still dry was covered in goose pimples; half immersed in the icy water, a cruel breeze lifting his hair, Josh started to shiver violently wishing he had his wand. He avoided looking at the stands; the laughter was becoming louder, and there were catcalls and jeering from the Slytherins and other students…

Then, quite suddenly, Josh felt as though an invisible pillow had been pressed over her mouth and nose. He tried to draw breath, but it made his head spin; his lungs were empty, and he suddenly felt a piercing pain on either side of his neck - Josh clapped his hands around his throat and felt two large slits just below his ears, flapping in the cold air…he had gills.

Without pausing to think, he did the only thing that made sense and flung himself forward into the water.

The first gulp of icy lake water felt like the breath of life. His head had stopped spinning; he took another great gulp of water and felt it pass smoothly through his gills, sending oxygen back to his brain. He stretched out his hands in front of him and stared at them. They looked green and ghostly under the water, and they had become webbed. He twisted around and looked at his bare feet - they had become elongated and the toes were webbed too: it looked as though he had sprouted flippers.

The water didn't feel icy anymore either…on the contrary, he felt pleasantly cool and very light…Josh struck out once more, marveling at how far and fast his flipper-like feet propelled him through the water, and noticing how clearly he could see, and how he no longer seemed to need to blink. He had soon swum so far into the lake that he could no longer see the bottom. He flipped over and dived into its depths.

Silence pressed upon his ears as he soared over a strange, dark, foggy landscape. He could only see ten feet around him, so that as he sped through the water new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the incoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones. He swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, his eyes wide, staring through the eerily grey-lit water around her to the shadow beyond, where the water became opaque.

Small fish flickered past her like silver darts. Once or twice he thought he saw something larger moving ahead of him, but when he got nearer, he discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople, or whatever girl Firenze had discovered.

Light green weed stretched ahead of him as far as he could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass.

Josh was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom… and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of his ankle.

Josh twisted his body around and saw a grindylow, a small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around Josh's leg, its pointed fangs bared – Josh instinctively stuck his webbed hand quickly inside his pants pocket looking for his wand, but it wasn't there. He forgot, he didn't have a wand.

By the time he remembered he didn't have a wand, two more grindylows had risen out of the weed, had seized his other leg, and were attempting to drag him down. Josh kicked as hard as he could, but the grindylows would not let go.

If only he had his wand, he could send these things flying, but he didn't have his wand. So, he tried swimming against the grindylows pulling which made him go slow. Frustrated and angry, Josh looked at the grindylows.

"Let go!" he shouted clearly underwater. The grindylows instantly let go and quickly swan away as if they had been scared of something. Smiling in triumph, Josh began to swim away as fast as he could before more grindylows showed up.

Josh slowed down a little and looked around, listening again. He turned a full circle in the water, the silence pressing harder than ever against his eardrums. He knew he must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was moving but the rippling weed.

Frustratingly screaming in his mind, Josh set off once more, swimming a bit higher over the weed to avoid any more grindylows that might be lurking there.

He swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. He was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting mersong.

"_An hour long you_'_ll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took…"_

Josh excitedly swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Josh swam on past the rock, following the mersong.

"… _your time_'_s half gone, so tarry not_

_Lest what you seek stays here to rot…"_

A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Josh saw faces… faces that bore no resemblance at all to the Muggle pictures of mermaids…The merpeople had greyish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Josh as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands.

Josh sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and he even saw a pet grindylow tied to a stake outside one door.

Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, and pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another. Josh sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes.

A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.

The first face he saw was Daphne's who was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Josh feel sure that she was Fleur Delacour's sister. All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.

Josh sped toward the hostages, half expecting the merpeople to lower their spears and charge at him, but they did nothing. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong. For a fleeting second he thought of the knife Sirius had bought him brother for Christmas – which happened to be in his pocket. He surprisingly never left without it.

He reached into his left pocket and pulled out the knife. He swam next to Daphne and began to cut at the ropes binding her, and after several minutes' hard work, they broke apart. Daphne floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water.

Josh looked around. There was no sign of any of the other champions. What were they playing at? Why didn't they hurry up?

He turned back to Hermione, raised his knife, and began to cut at her bindings too –

At once, several pairs of strong grey hands seized him. Half a dozen mermen were pulling him away from Hermione, shaking their green-haired heads, and laughing.

"You take your own hostage," one of them said to him. "Leave the others…Your task is to retrieve your own friend…leave the others…"

"But she's my friend too!" Josh yelled, gesturing toward Hermione. "And I don't want them to die either!"

Cho's head was on Hermione's shoulder; the small silver-haired girl was ghostly green and pale. Josh struggled to fight off the mermen, but they laughed harder than ever, holding him back. Josh looked wildly around. Where were the other champions? Would he have time to take Daphne back to the surface and come back down for Hermione and the others? Would he be able to find them again? He looked down at his watch to see how much time was left - it had stopped working.

But then the merpeople around him pointed excitedly over his head. Josh looked up and saw Cedric swimming toward them. There was an enormous bubble around his head, which made his features look oddly wide and stretched.

"Got lost!" he mouthed, looking panic-stricken. "Fleur and Krum're coming now!"

Feeling somewhat relieved, Josh watched Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cho free. He pulled her upward and out of sight.

Josh looked around, waiting. Where were Fleur and Krum? Time was getting short, and according to the song, the hostages would be lost after an hour…

The merpeople started screeching animatedly. Those holding Josh loosened their grip, staring behind them. Josh turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark…It was Krum. He appeared to have transfigured himself- but badly.

The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes; the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin.

"Watch out you overgrown dolt!" Josh growled knowing he was quite sure that if Krum wasn't careful, he was going to rip Hermione in half. Darting forward, Josh hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the knife. Krum seized it and began to cut Hermione free. Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface.

_Now what?_ Josh thought desperately. If he could be sure that Fleur was coming…But still no sign. There was nothing to be done except…

He tightened his grip on his knife, which Krum given back, but the mermen now closed in around Daphne and the little girl, shaking their heads at him. Josh held out his knife.

"Get out of the way!" He yelled. The mermen looked at Josh's small knife and laughed even harder. "Get lose!" Josh growled out, and this time, the mermen suddenly stopped laughing and swam away as if they had been scared.

Surprised, Josh darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, and at last she was free. He seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed under the arm of Daphne, and kicked off from the bottom.

It was very slow work. He could no longer use his webbed hands to propel himself forward; he worked his flippers furiously, but Daphne and Fleur's sister were like potato-filled sacks dragging him back down…he fixed his eyes skyward, though he knew he must still be very deep, the water above him was so dark…

Josh's legs were seizing up with the effort to keep swimming; his shoulders were aching horribly with the effort of dragging Daphne and the little girl, but he wasn't going to give up.

He was drawing breath with extreme difficulty. He could feel pain on the sides of his neck again…he was becoming very aware of how wet the water was in his mouth… yet the darkness was definitely thinning now…he could see daylight above him, he was almost there…

He kicked hard with his flippers and discovered that they were nothing more than feet…water was flooding through his mouth into his lungs…he was starting to feel dizzy, but he knew light and air were only ten feet above him…he had to get there…he had to…he was going to.

Josh kicked his legs so hard and fast it felt as though his muscles were screaming in protest; his very brain felt waterlogged, he couldn't breathe, he needed oxygen, he had to keep going, he could not stop, he won't –

And then he felt his head break the surface of the lake; wonderful, cold, clear air was making his wet face sting; he gulped it down, feeling as though he had never breathed properly before, and, panting, pulled Daphne and the little girl up with him.

The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet; Josh had the impression they thought that Daphne and the little girl might be dead, but they were wrong…both of them had opened their eyes; the girl looked scared and confused, but Daphne merely expelled a great spout of water, blinked in the bright light, turned to Josh, and said, "Joshua," she cried and hugged him. "I thought…I thought..."

"It's okay, I'm back," Josh replied, hugging her back. Daphne let go, and then he spotted Fleur's sister.

"What did you bring her for?" she asked.

"Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her," Josh panted and Daphne nodded, smiling.

"C'mon," Josh said, "Help me with her; I don't think she can swim very well."

They pulled Fleur's sister through the water, back toward the bank where the judges stood watching, twenty merpeople accompanying them like a guard of honor, singing their horrible screechy songs.

Josh could see Madam Pomfrey fussing over Hermione, Krum, Cedric, and Cho, all of whom were wrapped in thick blankets. Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Josh and Daphne from the bank as they swam nearer.

Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"

The trio slowly made it back to the bank where Josh slid to his knees in exhaustion. Daphne, Dumbledore and Bagman pulled him upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister.

"It was ze grindylows… zey attacked me… oh Gabrielle, I thought… I thought…"

"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She took Harry and Daphne over to Hermione and the others, and wrapped Josh so tightly in a blanket that he felt as though he were in a straitjacket, and forced a measure of very hot potion down his throat. Steam gushed out of his ears.

"Josh!" Hermione cried, jumping on him with a tight hug. "You did it!"

"Well -" said Josh, but stopped - he had just noticed Karkaroff watching him. He was the only judge who had not left the table; the only judge not showing signs of pleasure and relief that Josh, Daphne, and Fleur's sister had got back safely, and he was glaring at Josh. "Yeah, that's right," said Josh, raising his voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear him.

"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum. Josh had the impression that Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the lake, but Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said, "You're well outside the time limit, though, Josh… Did it take you ages to find us?"

"No…I found you ok…" Josh said. "I just thought….yeah, I found you okay."

Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."

The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey, satisfied that Josh was warm, went to fetch Fleur and her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them.

"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Josh. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."

"Yeah, I guess," Josh said. Fleur swooped down on him and kissed him, surprising him, and Daphne and Hermione who were shocked.

But just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows…

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

There was applause from the stands.

"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour."

Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd.

"We therefore award him forty-seven points."

Josh's heart sank. If Cedric had been outside the time limit, he most certainly had been.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.

"Joshua Black used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Young Mr. Black was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However…Mr. Black's score is forty-five points."

Josh's stomach leapt - he was now tied for first place with Cedric. There were many cheers and applause.

Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Josh to listen.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

_It was over,_ Josh thought dazedly, as Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes…it was over, he had gotten through it…he didn't have to worry about anything now until June the twenty-fourth…hopefully.

**A/N: There you go. Sorry it took so long, but i've been busy! so, yeah, may take a while. Hope you enjoy and please review.**


	26. It Had To Happen Sometime

Chapter 26: It Had To Happen Sometime

One of the worst things about the aftermath of the second task was that people kept hounding Josh about what had happened down in the lake. He always told them the same story: Dumbledore had put all the hostages into a bewitched sleep in Professor McGonagall's office, first assuring them that they would be quite safe, and would awake when they were back above the water. Eventually, he grew tired of retelling the tale of events over and over, and whenever someone asked again, he'd make up some excuse to get away and leave.

As they entered March, the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. Josh learned that Harry had received a letter from Sirius to meet him. Not caring so much, Josh decided to spend time with Blaise, Daphne, and Tracey at Hogsmeade, only so Harry could have some face time with Sirius. Honestly, Josh thought the other night in the forest was enough face time he had had with his father. They bonded and joke and talked about Josh's feelings and fears. As for Josh's wand, Daphne had had the whole time in the lake, surprising Josh who if he had known, would have grabbed it and used it at the end of the task. She had gave it back to him the next day, forgotten she had it in her pocket.

"So, why exactly were you late for the task?" Blaise asked Josh as the two, Malfoy, Tracey, and Daphne were all standing outside Snape's classroom, with other students, for their final lesson of the afternoon - double Potions – and Josh was feeling weird for being in the hallway where he had tortured Cyrus to insanity.

"I was in the forest talking to my father," Josh answered quietly, staring at the opposite wall.

"Why?" Blaise asked. Josh sighed. He didn't want Blaise to know why he was in the forest, thinking his best friend would judge him and call him insane.

"His father had sent him a note," Daphne answered for Josh. She was the only one who knew the real reason Josh went to the forest. The two had talked about it after the task, and Josh made her promise never to tell anyone what happened that night, but that still wouldn't help with Snape, who also knew the whole truth.

"He just wanted some father/son time," Josh added with a sigh.

Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. All of them were looking at something Josh couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back at Harry, Hermione, and Ron who were finally approaching.

"There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart. Josh saw that Pansy had a magazine in her hands - Witch Weekly. The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.

"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at Hermione, who caught it, looking startled. At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned them all inside.

Josh entered the classroom, followed by his friends. He was curious, so he sat with Hermione and Neville and was joined by Blaise, not noticing Daphne's eyes watching him with a little sadness.

Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients of today's potion on the blackboard, Hermione hastily rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, in the center pages, Hermione found what they were looking for.

Josh, Blaise, and Neville leaned in closer. A color photograph of Josh headed a short piece entitled:

_Joshua Black' Secret Heartache_

_A boy like no other, perhaps - yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic and startled insanity of his parents, fourteen-year-old Joshua Black thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger._

_Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss?_

_Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Josh alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections, but not just those two, but with Harry Potter as well._

_Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."_

_However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest._

_"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."_

_Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Fourth Champion Joshua Black's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate._

"That's her tactic!" Blaise said at Hermione as she stared down at the article. "You annoy and get in Rita Skeeter's way; she'll make you out to be some sort of - of scarlet woman!"

Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter. "Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Blaise.

"It's what my mum calls them," Blaise said. "A woman who has more than two lovers at the same time."

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw Witch Weekly onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."

Hermione looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching her and Josh closely across the room to see if they had been upset by the article. Hermione gave them a sarcastic smile and a wave, and she, Josh, Blaise, and Neville started unpacking the ingredients they would need for their Wit-Sharpening Potion.

"You know, if you did have a girlfriend, I'd suspect it would be Daphne," Blaise muttered to Josh, and once he said that, a couple of scarabs slipped out of Josh's hand, but that wasn't the only thing that happened. At the same time, Hermione had knocked over a small jar, but luckily Neville had surprising caught it before it hit the ground.

"Thanks," Hermione murmured to Neville.

Josh picked up his tail and threw it in his cauldron. "What makes you say that?" Josh quietly asked Blaise.

Blaise shrugged. "I dunno," he answered. "But whenever I see you two together, you guys look happy; like there's a special connection."

"I'm like that with every other girl," Josh replied. "Look at me and Hermione. I make her laugh and all happy, right Hermione?"

Hermione didn't answer but she did blush.

"Yeah, you make other girls feel good," Blaise said. "But you and Daphne would go great together. You can't tell me you haven't thought about asker her on a date?" Josh shrugged, not wanting to answer and wanted to focus on work. In truth, he always thought about asking Daphne out. But he wasn't sure how she felt about him. It would really hurt Josh if he did ask her and she rejected him. He just wasn't ready for that risk.

"There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over her bowl of beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"

"Known what? How you've been slipping love potions to me, Harry, and Krum?" Josh joked.

"Don't be stupid, I wouldn't do that to any of you," Hermione replied, trying not to smile while she starting to pound up her beetles again. "No, it's just… how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?" Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided Josh's eyes.

"Seriously?" said Josh, stirring his potion.

"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione said. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to -"

"And what did you say?" Josh asked, looking at Hermione.

"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, going so red now that Josh could almost feel the heat coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there… or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task…"

"And what did you say?" Josh curiously repeated.

"Well, I was too busy seeing whether you were okay to-"

"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and both of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Snape had glided over to their desk while they were talking. The whole class was now looking around at them.

"Ah… reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the copy of Witch Weekly.

"It's mine," Josh surprisingly blurted, surprising himself, Snape, and the whole class.

"Really?" Snape said as his eyes bore into Josh's. Josh nodded, thinking of why he would say that that magazine was his. "Fine," Snape said, handing Josh the magazine. Josh took it from Snape. "Don't bring it back to class ever again."

"Yes, sir," Josh replied, as him and most of the class watched in shock as Snape hadn't taken the opportunity to mock Josh and Hermione.

"But still, I think I had better separate the both of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Black, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Move. Now."

Hermione, blushing nervously, gathered her things and moved over next to Parkinson. Josh sighed and continued to work on his potion.

"It's funny," Blaise spoke.

"What is?" Josh asked.

"It's funny because I didn't know you were such a big fan of Witch Weekly," Blaise joked, trying not to laugh. Neville was trying not to laugh either. Josh rolled his eyes and shook his head.

The rest of the class was equally surprising as Snape had all but accused of Harry and Ron of stealing ingredients from his private storage and threatened them with a truth-telling potion. The potions ingredients, Josh noted, were ingredients for a Poly-juice potion, which was very curious to Josh. The second interesting thing was when Karkaroff interrupted the class.

There was a knock on the dungeon door.

"Enter," said Snape in his usual voice.

The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looking agitated.

"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a rather poor ventriloquist.

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."

"After the lesson," Snape snapped.

Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if he'd poured out enough armadillo bile, Josh watched them from his table. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.

Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class. Josh left but he noticed Harry had dropped something, and took his time to retrieve what he had dropped.

Around noon on Saturday, Josh, Blaise, Tracey, and Daphne were getting ready to leave Hogwarts to Hogsmeade when they were stopped by Professor McGonagall, who was standing by the Oak doors.

"Ah, Mr. Black, Miss Greengrass, there you are," said McGonagall.

"Yeah, here we are," Josh replied, curiously looking at the transfiguration professor.

"Is there something wrong, Professor?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid there is," McGonagall said. "I need you both to come with me to the headmaster's office, now, if you please." At that moment, Josh and Daphne looked at one another.

"Why?" Blaise asked. "Are they in trouble?"

"I'm sorry, but that is none of your business, Zabini," McGonagall said. "Joshua, Daphne, please, come with me." Josh nodded.

"It's okay, guys," he said to Blaise and Tracey. "We'll catch up later." He said, and the couple left with McGonagall to the Headmaster's office. McGonagall told Daphne to wait outside while Josh and he went in.

They entered the office to find not only Dumbledore, but Snape, Percy, and Karkaroff as well, but Barty Crouch wasn't there either, which was very curious. Josh entered while McGonagall shut the door, also staying. "What's going on?" Josh asked, looking at every one of the adults in turn.

"Joshua, please have a seat," Dumbledore said from his desk, his eyes twinkling. Josh nodded and took the only seat in front of Dumbledore's desk, while all the adults stood.

"Okay," Josh said, settling into his chair. "So, what's going on?"

"You know exactly what's going on!" Karkaroff barked.

"Igor, please," Dumbledore spoke, holding up his hand and silencing the Durmstrang Headmaster. "Joshua," the headmaster said softly. "It has come to all out attentions that you and young Cyrus Emrys dueled the night before the second task –"

"Yeah, you do know that was like a month ago," Josh spoke.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, we do," he said. "We brought it up today as Cyrus was released from the Hospital Quarters of the Durmstrang Ship –"

"Wait, he was in the hospital quarters this whole time?" Josh said, and then looked at Karkaroff and back at Dumbledore. "Did you not think this information wasn't important enough for me to hear?"

"Why should you care, you put him there," Igor snapped.

"Because he's my family," Josh snapped back.

"And yet, you still put him in the hospital quarters," Igor replied. "It seems that family doesn't matter to you at all, since you go on about attacking your cousin –"

"He attacked me first!" Josh shouted.

"Wrong!" Igor said, raising his voice, stepping towards Josh. "Cyrus said you were the won who shot him with an illegal lightning curse, twice –"

Josh was about to stand up, but a hand was put on his shoulder and held him in place. Josh's head snapped up and was surprised to see that it wasn't McGonagall's hand that stopped him, it was Snape's. "If I may, headmaster," He said.

Dumbledore nodded. "Wait, if you may what?" Igor said, not understanding.

"Well, Igor," Dumbledore started. "You'll be pleased to know that Severus had witnessed the whole incident that night of the duel." Igor's eyes widened in fear. "You may tell your story, Severus."

Snape nodded. "Yes, well, on the night of the duel," He started. "I was doing my usual rounds when I heard a young woman shouting, and as I got closer, I noticed that it was Mister Emrys and Miss Greengrass in a very physical argument. I was about to intervene and when young Mister Black appeared and cursed young Mister Emrys –"

"Ah ha!" Igor blurted out. "See, Black did attack first –"

"Please let Severus finish, Igor," Dumbledore said firmly. Igor nodded and shut his mouth. "Severus, you may continue."

Snape nodded. "Young Mister Black did attack Mister Emrys, twice," he said, and when Igor was about to speak, Snape spoke louder, "But, Black only attacked Emrys to defend Miss Greengrass. He was going to physically assault a young woman, and it was lucky that Josh was there to help Miss Greengrass before anything happened. And yes, a dueled ensued – "And Josh waited for it. The most horrible news, the one he never wanted to think about. Once Snape said it, it would all be over for Josh.

"A duel ensued, and it was Cyrus who nearly killed Mister Black with a Sonic/Sound Wave Curse, but it was Josh who came out on top ending the duel with a –" Josh closed his eyes and held his breath. "- punch."

"What?!" blurted out many voices. Josh's eyes snapped opened and looked up at Snape who nodded.

"Yes," Snape said. "Cyrus was distracted and it was then that he was knocked out by a punch from young Mister Black."

"What?! NO!" Igor yelled. "There was no way a mere 14 year old boy could have knocked out a young man with one punch –"

"May I remind you that there is also no way for a mere _15_ year old boy to be participating in a Tri-wizard Tournament," Snape said. "But that is how the duel ended. I witnessed it as I was there. You may ask Black and he will answer that I was there and that the duel ended in a single punch."

"Well, why don't we just ask the boy then," Igor said, and all eyes turned to Josh.

"Well, Joshua," Dumbledore said, looking into Josh's eyes. "Is what Severus said true?"

Josh stayed quiet for a moment and looked at everyone around the room as all eyes were on him. Most eyes were curious and expectant, except for Igor's which were full of anger and suspicion. Josh didn't like the man one bit, nor did he like Cyrus, so he turned back to Dumbledore and nodded.

"Yes," he said. "Everything Professor Snape said is true."

Every head nodded except Igor who clenched his fists tightly. "That girl," he said through gritted teeth. "I think we should hear her testimony."

"I don't think it's necessary," Snape said.

"Nonetheless, Severus, we should hear her side of the story, just in case," Igor replied. "Right, Headmaster Dumbledore."

"I think Igor is right," Percy spoke, "We should hear Miss Greengrass's story."

Dumbledore gave a nod. "Indeed," he said, thought it looked as he didn't want to agree with Igor or Percy. "Joshua, will you please wait outside and send in Miss Greengrass."

Josh nodded, standing up and leaving the office. He entered the small stone clearing where Daphne was sitting down on the stone floor. "You're up," Josh said, pointing at the office.

"What's going on?" Daphne asked as she stood to her feet, looking worried and nervous.

"It's fine, Daph," Josh said. "Just go in and tell them what happened."

"Tell them what happened?" Daphne asked, getting anxious.

"Just go inside," Josh said. "It's going to be okay. It's about the fight in the dungeons, just tell them what you saw, ok?" Daphne nodded, and slowly entered the office.

Josh moved over to here Daphne was sitting and sat down himself. His mind went over to night of the duel he had with Cyrus and he was amazed at how Cyrus duel, and he wondered if Daphne had not distracted him, what would have really happened to Josh. Would he have been seriously injured? But now that he thought about it. His ears and whatever injuries he sustained at the duel, he didn't remember them hurting during the second task or after. There were some many strange things going on with Josh, and he needed to figure out what's wrong with him. How come that man over the summer couldn't go through his memories, he wasn't a pro at Occlumency, and how did Josh easily deflect the Imperius curse on one try? Did Josh have a powerful mind?

But before he could divulge any longer, the office door opened, and Daphne reappeared looking nervous but relieved. Josh quickly stood to his feet. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Daphne nodded. "Yes, I'm fine," she answered, looking down. "They want you back." Josh nodded and entered the office once more. Everyone watched as he walked over and sat down once more. Josh glanced at Igor who was now over by the window, staring out it, looking angry.

"Now, what?" Josh said, looking at Dumbledore.

"Well, it turns out that it is possible that a person can be gravely injured by just one punch," Dumbledore said, smiling a little as his eyes twinkled. "Now, we brought you back to discuss your punishment as dueling in the hallways and dungeons of Hogwarts is considered rule-breaking." Josh nodded, he understood that.

"I understand," Josh said. "I deserve whatever punishment you give me."

"He deserves to be thrown from the tournament and expelled," Igor growled out, but he was ignored.

"Now, our head of house tell what punishment will be fit for you," Dumbledore said.

McGonagall stepped up next to Dumbledore. "From here to a week before the final task, you will serve night detentions with various teachers, whoever is free," McGonagall spoke. Josh nodded. "And your Hogsmeade visits are suspended until next year, and 100 points will be taken away from Gryffindor House." Josh winced. That was the most points he had lost ever in his Hogwarts career. Josh nodded. "You may go," McGonagall finished.

Josh nodded again, and began to leave the office where Igor began rambling off in anger. The office door shut when he heard Daphne's voice.

"So, what happened?" She said, appearing next to Josh.

"Just gave me my punishment," Josh said as the two began making their way down the steps of the gargoyle statue, and then entered the hallways a minute later.

"So, what was your punishment?" Daphne curiously asked.

"Well, I lost 100 points," Josh started. "My Hogsmeade visits were suspended, and I have detention every night until a week before the Final Task."

"Wow, that's horrible," Daphne said.

"Yeah, well, I deserve it," Josh replied softly. "You know I do."

"Josh," Daphne said. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

"Not really," Josh answered.

"Can we?" Daphne said. "I mean, I know you probably feel ashamed for what you did, but how do you think I felt when I saw what you were doing?" Josh kept his eyes ahead, not able to look at her in the eye. "Josh, please let's talk about this," Daphne pleaded.

Josh sighed. "I don't want to," he said. "Besides, I've already talked it over with Sirius."

"But I still need to talk about it," Daphne said. "What you did was scary," she said, as they continued walking. "Josh, stop," She said, grabbing Josh's arm to get him to stop walking. Josh sighed and looked at the ground. "What you did…you can't have imagined what it was like seeing you like that," she said.

"You have no idea," Josh muttered.

"Josh," Daphne pleaded. "I was horrified when you pulled that unforgiveable, and when you I saw your face, it was like you want to do it. You looked like you were enjoying it, and it was scaring me. I could have sworn your eyes flashed red. Josh, I have to ask…did you enjoy it."

Josh looked at Daphne, his eyes wide in horror. "Do you think I enjoyed it?" he growled. Daphne cowered under his heated gaze. "Do you think I wanted to use the Cruciatus curse? I only did it because I was trying to protect you!"

"Then what took you too long to stop?" Daphne asked. "Why keep going?"

"Because he deserved it!" Josh yelled his eyes full of anger. "Did you forget what he was going to do to you!? If I wasn't there…do you know what could have happened? Cyrus is very capable of dark magic. If I hadn't shown up, he could've…he could've…"

Daphne looked down, her eyes brimming with tears. "I know," she said softly.

Josh stepped closer to Daphne and grabbed her hand. "Daphne," he said. Daphne looked up at him. "I don't know what I would do if you got hurt. What I did….I did for you. I can't let anything or anyone harm you, because I care about you too much. Daphne –"But he couldn't finish as Daphne had took a step closer to Josh and kissed him on his lips, surprising him.

A second later, Daphne stepped back, too surprised by her own actions. Josh looked into her widened eyes. "Daphne," he said, but before he could say anything else, she ran. Josh stood there, not following her, staring at the spot where she had stood. "Shite."

"Mister Black," a voice said moments later, pulling Josh out of his thoughts. Josh turned to see Snape standing next to him. "You've been standing there for a few minutes, are you alright?" the professor asked.

Josh nodded, thinking about the beautiful kiss Daphne had given. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said.

"Good," Snape said. "Come with me, we need to talk." He added and began to walk. A little dazed, Josh followed the potions professor.

Minutes later, Josh was entering Snape's office. "Sit," the Professor said, and Josh obliged, sitting in a chair. Snape moved over to a cabinet and opened it, pulling out a couple of glasses and a bottle of brandy. He moved over to his desk, placing down the glasses and pouring brandy in both. He set down the bottle and grabbed both glasses, walked over to Josh and held one glass out.

"Um, sir?" Josh said, uncertain. "I think I'm a little young." Snape didn't say anything but continued to hold out the glass, so Josh accepted it anyway. Josh pulled the glass closer and gave a sniff. He immediately backed up as the aroma was strong and overpowering.

Snape took a seat at his desk and sipped his brandy. "I know what it's like to perform a Cruciatus Curse," he said, surprising Josh. "The first time I did it was when I was your age, when I was being led by the wrong group of friends. I was always angry in school and my 'friends' told me by performing the curse, it would relieve my anger. It did, but what I didn't realize was how much I was hurting the person I was torturing. I was selfish; all I cared about was myself. Well, there was another person, but that's none of your business."

"Sir, why are you telling me this," Josh asked, setting the glass of brandy on the table.

"Josh," Snape said, sipping his brandy. "I know what it's like to succumb to your dark side. I know the good feeling of relieving your anger, and the temptation of never releasing the curse, because the more I used it, the more better it made me feel. I'm telling you that I know how it feels –"

Josh suddenly laughed and stood up to his feet. "You know how I feel?" he said. Snape didn't answer but watched and listened. "I don't think you know how I feel, professor. How I feel, to tell you the truth, I am ashamed of what I did to Cyrus. I admit that when it happened, it did felt good, but once it was over I was disgusted with myself. I scared myself and Daphne. You may know a little about how I feel, but now all of what I feel. Do you know what my boggart is, Professor Snape?" Snape shook his head.

"My boggart is me turning into Lord Voldemort himself," Josh said firmly. "And since I've seen my boggart, I believe it more and more each, because of my thoughts and actions. I can't help but think that I will become like Voldemort, and it's the only thing I fear. So, you don't know how I feel, Severus! You don't know what it's like to think that one day you'll be so horrible that you want only one thing and that is to torture and murder innocent people." Snape looked down at his glass, thinking how Josh could ever be so wrong, but he wasn't going to tell him that, not now anyways.

Josh stared down at Snape for a moment and then grabbed then glass of brandy and took a drink, nearly coughing it up. He set the glass down and the left the office not wanting to speak to Professor Snape anymore.

Monday Morning, Josh entered the Great Hall very tired and starving. He had been in Slytherin's chamber since his talk with Snape, looking up many different spells and practicing them in the Chamber of Secrets to relieve is anger.

Josh sat down next to Hermione as he heard some confused Gryffindors wondering how the had lost 100 points over night. Josh glanced up at the Slytherin table and saw that Daphne wasn't there. Which was another thing he had thought about over the weekend; the kiss she had given him, he couldn't stop thinking about it as much as the darkness inside him. It was his first kiss and it was surprising yet amazing.

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked, releasing Josh from his thoughts. He turned and looked at Hermione.

"I was in the Chamber," He answered, looking down as Ron and Harry looked up at Josh.

"Doing what?" Hermione asked.

"Wait, wait, wait," Ron said, interrupting the conversation. "What Chamber, not The Chamber of Secrets, right?"

"Well, that's the only Chamber in this Castle that I know of, so yeah," Josh said.

"Why on earth would you go there?" Harry asked. "It's like a sewer down there."

"I just go down there to relieve tension and anger," Josh said with a sigh. "If you want to go back down there anytime, I'll be happy to show you what I've found if you want," he said lazily. Ron and Harry looked at one another shrugging.

When the post owls arrived, Hermione looked up eagerly; she seemed to be expecting something.

"Percy won't've had time to answer yet," said Ron, puzzling Josh. "We only sent Hedwig yesterday."

"No, it's not that," said Hermione. "I've taken out a subscription to the Daily Prophet. I'm getting sick of finding everything out from the Slytherins."

"Hey, Hermione, I think you're in luck -" Harry added.

A grey owl was soaring down toward Hermione. "It hasn't got a newspaper, though," she said, looking disappointed. "It's -"

But to her bewilderment and the others, the grey owl landed in front of her plate, closely followed by four barn owls, a brown owl, and a tawny.

"What on earth -?" Hermione said, taking the letter from the grey owl, opening it, and starting to read. "Oh really!" she sputtered, going rather red.

"What's up?" said Ron, as the three boys looked over at her curiously.

"It's - oh how ridiculous -"

She handed the letter over at Josh, who saw that it was not handwritten, but composed from pasted letters that seemed to have been cut out of the Daily Prophet.

YOU ARE A WICKED GIRL. JOSCHA BLACK DESERVES BETTER. GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM MUGGLE.

"She spelled my name wrong," Josh said, tossing the letter to Harry.

"They're all like it!" said Hermione desperately, opening one letter after another. "'Joshua Black can do much better than the likes of you… ''You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn… 'Ouch!" She shrieked and Josh hissed when something splashed against his hand.

Hermione had opened the last envelope, and yellowish-green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over her hands and splashed against Josh's left hand, which began to erupt in large yellow boils.

"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" said Neville, picking up the envelope gingerly and sniffing it.

"Ow!" said Hermione, tears starting in her eyes as she tried to rub the pus off her hands with a napkin, but her fingers were now so thickly covered in painful sores that it looked as though she were wearing a pair of thick, knobbly gloves. Josh used his right hand to cover his left hand and help out Hermione.

"You guys better get up to the hospital wing," said Harry as the owls around Hermione took flight. "We'll tell Professor Sprout where you've gone…"

"Alright," Josh said, helping Hermione to her feet and the two began making their way to the Hospital Wing and bursted in. "Madam Pomfrey!" Josh shouted as Hermione sniffed and silently cried. "Madam Pomfrey, we need your help!"

A second later, Madam Pomfrey appeared and was running towards the two teens. "What is it?" She asked. "What have you two done to yourselves now?"

"Hermione got a little hate mail and a letter was filled with undiluted bubotuber pus," Josh answered as Madam Pomfrey stopped in front of the two, and examined their hands.

"Oh I see," Madam Pomfrey said, "But why didn't you take care of it, Mr. Black. We covered this in class a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah, I know," Josh said. "But we don't have the potion for the boils and I know that you do have a lot of it."

"Right you are," Madam Pomfrey answered. "But what was the first rule I told you when you started this class Mister Black."

Josh sighed. "Always have every medical supply ready in case the unexpected happens," he said. Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"Now come along," Pomfrey said, and led the two teens towards her medical potions' supply. As they waited, Pomfrey pulled out two bowls and a large clay pitcher and poured light clear blue liquid in each bowls.

The three moved over to one of the beds and Josh and Hermione sat down while Pomfrey placed two small tables in front of them and then the bowls on the tables. "There, place your hands in the bowl and they must soak for 45 minutes, and when you are done," she said, placing a small white jar on Josh's table plus some bandages. "The hands will still burn a little, so place this cream on it and cover your hands with the bandages. Young Mister Black knows what to do. And when you're done, come tell me and I'll see if you're ready to go." Josh and Hermione nodded, and placed their hands in the bowls of light blue liquid, which was very cooling.

"I forgot you had Healing Classes with Madam Pomfrey," Hermione spoke, not crying anymore.

"Where do you think I go when you have Arithmancy on Thursdays?" Josh said, "But yeah, I do, and I enjoy it, and I get hurt a lot in the Chamber. It's nice to know how to fix yourself up when you don't want the professors to know what you've been up to."

"What do you mean you get hurt a lot in the Chamber?" Hermione asked.

"Well, spells don't work for the first time," Josh answered. "And sometimes they like to backfire and cause the caster injury, but don't worry, nothing has been too lethal, just some cuts and bruises, a couple of broken bones –"

"- Broken bones?!"

"Hermione, it's fine," Josh said. "I'm fine; I know how to mend bones. It's easy really, but a little painful at first."

After 45 minutes, Josh and Hermione pulled their hands out of the bowls, which were still burning, and with Josh's uninjured right hand, he smeared cream on Hermione's hands first, which Hermione noticed were surprisingly soft. Josh then smeared cream on his left hand and bandaged then used both hands to bandage both of Hermione's hands.

"There you go, all better," Josh said, tossing the extra bandages on the table.

Hermione smiled. "You're quite the Healer," she said.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Josh replied with a tired smile, and stood up.

"Josh, are you alright?" Hermione asked, standing up to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm just tired is all," Josh answered, but Hermione looked unconvinced. "Really, Hermione, I'm fine." He added, and Hermione nodded, watching him carefully.

Minutes later, the two teens were out walking on the grounds towards Hagrid's hut.

"I on'y buried a hundred coins. Oh there y'are, Hermione, Josh!"

Josh and Hermione were walking towards the class and stopped in front of them, wondering what was going on. Josh looked at the Slytherin crowd and nodded towards Blaise and Tracey, but Daphne was looking down at the ground, ignoring him.

"Well, let's check how yeh've done!" said Hagrid. "Count yer coins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steal any, Goyle," he added, his beetle-black eyes narrowed. "It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few hours."

Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky. It turned out that Ron's niffler had been most successful, so Hagrid gave him an enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize.

The bell rang across the grounds for lunch; the rest of the class set off back to the castle, but Josh, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed behind to help Hagrid put the nifflers back in their boxes.

"What yeh done ter your hands, Hermione?" said Hagrid, looking concerned.

Hermione told him about the hate mail she had received that morning, and the envelope full of bubotuber pus.

"Aaah, don worry," said Hagrid gently, looking down at her. "I got some o' those letters an all, after Rita Skeeter wrote abou me mum. 'Yeh're a monster an yeh should be put down.' 'Yer mother killed innocent people an if you had any decency you'd jump in a lake.'"

"No!" said Hermione, looking shocked.

"Yeah," said Hagrid, heaving the niffler crates over by his cabin wall. "They're jus' nutters, Hermione. Don' open 'em if yeh get any more. Chuck 'em straigh' in the fire."

"You missed a really good lesson," Harry told Josh and Hermione as they headed back toward the castle. "They're good, nifflers, aren't they, Ron?"

Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about something.

"What's the matter?" said Harry. "Wrong flavor?"

"No," said Ron shortly. "Why didn't you tell me about the gold?"

"What gold?" said Harry.

"The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup," said Ron. "The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box, Why didn't you tell me it disappeared?"

"Oh…" Harry said "I dunno… I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?"

They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Must be nice," Ron said abruptly, when they had sat down and started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."

"Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!" said Harry impatiently. "We all did, remember?"

"I didn't know leprechaun gold vanishes," Ron muttered. "I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn't've given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas."

"Forget it, all right?" said Harry.

Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, "I hate being poor."

Harry, Josh, and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say.

"It's rubbish," said Ron, still glaring down at his potato. "I don't blame Fred and George for trying to make some extra money. Wish I could. Wish I had a niffler."

"Well, we know what to get you next Christmas," said Hermione brightly. Then, when Ron continued to look gloomy, she said, "Come on, Ron, it could be worse. At least your fingers aren't full of pus." Hermione was having a lot of difficulty managing her knife and fork; her fingers were so stiff and a bit swollen. Josh nodded in agreement as he was trying to eat with one hand, which was better than what Hermione as doing. "I hate that Skeeter woman!" she burst out savagely. "I'll get her back for this if it's the last thing I do!"

Josh smiled a little, and looked up at the Slytherin table to see Daphne wasn't there.

Hate mail continued to arrive for Hermione over the following week, and although she followed Hagrid's advice and stopped opening it, several of her ill-wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the Gryffindor table and shrieked insults at her for the whole Hall to hear. Even those people who didn't read Witch Weekly knew all about the supposed Josh-Harry-Krum-Hermione triangle or square now. Josh was getting sick of telling people that Hermione wasn't his girlfriend. He did hope Daphne didn't believe these lies, but he couldn't get to her, to talk. He did talk to Tracey who told him that she was embarrassed at what she did and that she didn't mean to kiss him, which bummed out Josh who wondered why she would say that.

One day, in Healing class, Josh was talking to William as they were learning to heal inner organs with a charm on small foxes.

"I just want to know how the heck that Skeeter woman is getting all this crap information," Josh wondered to William. "I mean, I haven't seen her since that my last visit to Hogsmeade."

"Maybe she's using an invisibility cloak," William suggested, petting his sleeping fox that was healed.

"But she would have been busted by Moody with his magical eye," Josh replied. "It has to be something, maybe she has an inside source, it'd make sense."

"Maybe she has the school filled with hidden microphones or cameras or something," William said.

"No, that can't be," Josh said, shaking his head. "All those substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air. No, Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be…whatever it is, and it's got to be illegal."

"You know, you probably shouldn't be worrying about this," William said. "You have enough things to worry about."

"Yeah, you're right," Josh said, sighing. "I'll just leave Hermione to it." William nodded in agreement as Josh examined his fox.

After class, Josh was walking through the second floor corridor when he ran into Daphne, literally. "Daphne!" Josh said, knocking her to the ground, and then helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," She said, brushing herself off, and then began to leave.

"Daphne wait," Josh said, grabbing her arm, stopping her.

"I'm sorry, Josh, but I'm in a pretty big hurry," Daphne said, but Josh didn't let go of her.

"No," he said. "I want to talk about what happened the other day."

"Josh, please," Daphne pleaded, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

"Because it was an accident," Daphne said heatedly, pulling away from Josh, and then began to walk away.

"But what if I don't want it to be an accident," Josh said, causing Daphne to stop in her tracks. Josh smiled a little and walked up to her. Daphne turned to Josh.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking curiously up at Josh.

"I mean, that that kiss was the best thing that's happened to me in my entire life," Josh said, making Daphne blush and smile. Josh smiled back and grabbed Daphne's hand. "And you don't know how long I've waited for something like that to happen."

"I could guess," Daphne said, smiling. Josh leaned down towards Daphne, closed his eyes, and kissed her on her lips and she kissed back lovingly, both full of emotion and love, and neither noticing the sad brown eyes that were watching from afar, brimming with tears.

**A/N: Well, there it is. Stuff and Thiiiiiiings, haha, if you get that reference, you're awesome. Has anyone seen any references in the stories? I try to put some in. Anyways, look, Daphne and Josh are starting something. And we get a small preview of being in Healing class and Josh knowing some healing spells, and a sort of heart to heart with Snape who protected Josh, but why? What do you think he did that for? **


	27. Almost There

Chapter 27: Almost There

The days passed and before Josh knew it, it was the week after the Easter Holidays. He was happier than he had been in months, and that was all thanks to his new secret girlfriend, Daphne. They decided to keep a secret mostly to keep Daphne's name out of the paper and to keep the news away from Ron and Hermione.

But even as Josh was happy, he noticed that Hermione had been a little distant towards him, and a little snippy with the others for some odd reason. Josh wanted to find out what was wrong, but every time he'd corner her, Hermione would easily find a way out. She hadn't really talked to him since that day he fixed her hands and he was worried what was wrong, but she wasn't telling. Josh asked Harry and Ron but they were just as clueless. He even asked Ginny who told Josh that she couldn't talk about it and if he wanted to know, that he should talk to Hermione.

Nevertheless, whatever free-time Josh had, between his class and detentions, he'd spend it with Daphne in Slytherin's Chamber, which was the most private part they knew of in the castle. They even had some late nights together.

Anyways, things got really weird after the Easter Holidays. One morning at breakfast, one where Josh was able to see Hermione but not talk to her, Harry received a letter from Percy. Harry had informed Josh all about Mr. Crouch and how he was not at the Ministry and well, hasn't been seen in a while.

Mrs. Weasley had also sent a package of Easter eggs. Harrys, Ron's, and Josh's were the size of dragon eggs and full of homemade toffee. Hermione's, however, was smaller than a chicken egg. Her face fell when she saw it.

"Your mum doesn't read Witch Weekly, by any chance does she, Ron?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," said Ron, whose mouth was full of toffee. "Gets it for the recipes."

Hermione looked sadly at her tiny egg. "You can have mine if you want," Josh offered to Hermione who ignored his eyes but shook her head.

"Don't you want to see what Percy's written?" Harry asked hastily. Josh and Ron leaned in to read.

Percy's letter was short and irritated.

_As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. Crouch is taking a well-deserved break. He is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumors._

_Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. Happy Easter._

And then it was the beginning of the Start of the summer term. Things with Daphne were great and strong, but Josh couldn't say the same about his friendship with Hermione, but it did improve a little. She began speaking to him, but it was a little cold and emotionless, like she didn't want to talk to them.

But Josh couldn't worry about that at the moment as the third task was approaching and Josh still didn't know what he'd have to do. Finally, in the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held him back in Transfiguration.

"You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock, Mister Black," she told him. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task."

So at half past eight that night, Josh left the others in Gryffindor Tower and went downstairs. As he crossed the entrance hall, Cedric came up from the Hufflepuff common room.

"Black," Cedric greeted annoyingly.

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Diggory," he greeted back.

They walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the field.

"What've they done to it?" Cedric said indignantly, stopping dead.

The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long, low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in every direction.

"They're hedges," Josh said, looking at the grassy walls.

"Hello there!" called a cheery voice.

Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field with Krum and Fleur. Josh and Cedric made their way toward them, climbing over the hedges. Fleur beamed at Josh as she came nearer. Her attitude toward him had changed completely since he had saved her sister from the lake.

"Well, what d'you think?" said Bagman happily as Josh and Cedric climbed over the last hedge. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty feet high. Don't worry," he added, grinning, spotting the less than- happy expressions on Cedric's face, "you'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"

No one spoke for a moment. Then -

"Maze," grunted Krum.

"That's right!" said Bagman. "A maze. The third task's really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."

"We simply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Fleur.

"There will be obstacles," said Bagman happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Hagrid is providing a number of creatures…then there will be spells that must be broken…all that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading on points will get a head start into the maze." Bagman grinned at Josh and Cedric. "Then Mr. Krum will enter…then Miss Delacour. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"

Josh, who knew only too well the kind of creatures that Hagrid was likely to provide for an event like this, thought it was unlikely to be any fun at all. However, he nodded politely like the other champions.

"Very well… if you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly…"

Bagman hurried alongside Josh as they began to wend their way out of the growing maze, but just then, Krum tapped Josh on the shoulder.

"Could I haff a vord?"

"Um sure," Josh said, nodding.

"Vill you valk vith me?" Krum asked Josh.

"Okay," said Josh curiously.

Josh and Krum left the stadium together, but Krum did not set a course towards the Durmstrang ship. Instead, he walked towards the forest.

"Why are we going this way?" Josh asked, as the passed Hagrid's cabin and the Beauxbatons carriage. He put his hand on his wand just in case Krum were to attack him, after all, he did attack Cyrus.

"Don't vont to be to be overheard," Krum said shortly, which sounded very suspicious to Josh.

When at last they had reached a quiet stretch of ground a short way from the Beauxbatons Horses, Krum stopped in the shade of the trees and turned to face Josh.

"I want to know," he said glowering to Josh who was getting ready to have to fight back. "Vot is there between you and Hermy-own-ninny?"

Josh stared back at the towering Bulgarian in disbelief. "Wait, this isn't about Cyrus?" he said.

"Vho?"

"Nothing, never mind," Josh said, letting go of his wand. "Well, actually, I'm not totally sure. I mean, we were best friends, but I don't know what happened, but she's different now."

"Like she's your girlfriend?" Krum asked.

"What? No, she's not," Josh replied. "Look, we're just friends and nothing more."

"But Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often," Krum said, looking at Josh suspiciously.

"Yeah, because she…"But Josh stopped when something came to realization. Hermione had a crush on him. He's known since the first task but he forgot all about it, and Hermione must know about him and Daphne which was probably why she was distant towards him. "I have to go," Josh said abruptly.

Krum stopped Josh by the arm. "But you haff never…haff not…"

"No," Josh said firmly, but before he could get moving, something moved behind Krum in the trees, and Josh instinctively pulled Krum away.

"Vot is it?" Krum said.

Josh shushed Krum, staring at the place in the tree where he had seen something while reaching for his wand.

Suddenly, a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, Josh didn't recognize him… then he realized it was Mr. Crouch.

He looked as though he had been travelling for days. The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched; he was unshaven and grey with exhaustion. His neat hair and moustache were both in need of a wash and a trim. His strange appearance, however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. Muttering and gesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to be talking to someone that he alone could see.

"Vosn't he a judge?" said Krum, staring at Mr. Crouch. "Isn't he vith your Ministry?"

Josh nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then walked slowly toward Mr. Crouch, who did not look at him, but continued to talk to a nearby tree.

"… and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students who will be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will be twelve…"

"Mr. Crouch?" Josh said cautiously.

"… and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to up the number of students she's bringing, now Karkaroff's made it a round dozen… do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will…"

Mr. Crouch's eyes were bulging. He stood staring at the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then he staggered sideways and fell to his knees.

"Mr. Crouch?" Josh said loudly. "Are you all right?"

Crouch's eyes were rolling in his head. Josh looked around at Krum, who had followed him into the trees, and was looking down at Crouch in alarm.

"Vot is wrong with him?"

"No idea," Josh muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone -"

"Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seized a handful of Josh's robes, dragging him closer, though his eyes were staring over Josh's head. "I need…see…Dumbledore…"

"Okay," said Josh, "if you can get up, Mr. Crouch, we can go up to the-"

"I've done… stupid… thing…" Mr. Crouch breathed. He looked utterly mad. His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a terrible effort. "Must…tell…Dumbledore…"

"Mr. Crouch, come on, get up," Josh said loudly and clearly. "Get up, and we'll take you to Dumbledore!"

Mr. Crouch's eyes rolled forward onto Josh. "Who…you?" he whispered.

"I'm a student at the school," said Josh, looking around at Krum for some help, but Krum was hanging back, looking extremely nervous.

"You're not…his?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging.

"His? No, I don't…" Josh said, without the faintest idea what Crouch was talking about.

"Dumbledore's?"

"Yeah, that's right," Josh said.

Crouch was pulling him closer; Josh tried to loosen Crouch's grip on his robes, but it was too powerful.

"Warn… Dumbledore…"

"I could get to Dumbledore if you let go of me," Josh said. "Just let go, Mr. Crouch, and I'll get him…"

"Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly; we are attending a concert tonight with Mr. and Mrs. Fudge."

Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that Josh was there, which surprised him so much he didn't notice that Crouch had released him.

"Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.S; most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have time to draft a response…"

"He is mad," said Krum doubtfully, staring down at Crouch, who was still gabbling to the tree, apparently convinced it was Percy.

"Look, Krum, stay with him, I'll go get Dumbledore," said Josh, trying to stand up, but his movement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr. Crouch, who seized him hard around the knees and pulled Josh back to the ground.

"Don't…leave…me!" he whispered, his eyes bulging again. "I…escaped… must warn…must tell…see Dumbledore…my fault…all my fault…Bertha…dead…all my fault…my son…my fault…tell Dumbledore…Harry Potter…the Dark Lord…stronger…Harry Potter…"

"Harry? I'll get Dumbledore if you let me go, Mr. Crouch!" said Josh. He looked furiously around at Krum. "Help me, will you?"

Looking extremely apprehensive, Krum moved forward and squatted down next to Mr. Crouch.

"Just keep him here," Josh said, pushing Mr. Crouch off of him. "I'll be back with Dumbledore."

"Hurry, vont you?" Krum called after Josh who began sprinting away from the forest and through the dark grounds. They were deserted; Bagman, Fleur, and Cedric had all disappeared. Josh tore up the stone steps, through the giant oak doors, and up the marble staircase, towards the second floor.

Five minutes later, he was hurtling toward the stone gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office. \

"Strawberry Tart!" Josh panted at the Stone Gargoyle.

This was the password to the hidden staircase to Dumbledore's office - or at least, a couple of months ago, but the password had evidently changed, however, for the stone gargoyle did not spring to life and jump aside, but stood frozen, glaring at Josh malevolently.

"Damn!" Josh growled. "C'mon, move!"

But nothing at Hogwarts had ever moved just because he shouted at it; he knew it was no good. He looked up and down the dark corridor. Perhaps Dumbledore was in the staff room? There was no password to get inside that room, so he started running as fast as he could towards the staircase –

"Mister Black!"

Josh skidded to a halt and looked around. Snape had just emerged from the hidden staircase behind the stone gargoyle. The wall was sliding shut behind him even as he beckoned Josh back toward him.

"What are you doing here, Black?" Snape asked, and not demanded as he usually did to others.

"I need to see Professor Dumbledore!" Josh said running back up the corridor and skidding to a standstill in front of Snape instead. "It's Mr. Crouch…he's just turned up…he's in the forest with Krum -"

"What are you talking about?" Snape said a little worry visible in his black eyes.

"Mr. Crouch!" Josh shouted. "You know that guy from the Ministry! He's ill or something - he's in the forest with Krum! Just give me the password up to -"

"Cockroach Cluster," Snape said immediately, and the Gargoyle sprang to life. The stone wall behind Snape slid open, but already, Dumbledore was standing there, wearing long green robes and a mildly curious expression.

"Is there a problem?" he said, looking between Josh and Snape.

"I'm afraid there is, Headmaster," Snape said, nodding.

"Professor!" Josh said, sidestepping Snape so he could speak, "Mr. Crouch is here - he's down in the forest, he's with Viktor Krum and he's rambling!"

Josh expected Dumbledore to ask questions, but to his relief, Dumbledore did nothing of the sort.

"Lead the way," he said promptly, and he swept off along the corridor behind Josh, leaving Snape standing next to the gargoyle.

"What did Mr. Crouch say, Joshua?" said Dumbledore as they walked swiftly down the marble staircase.

"Said he wants to warn you…said he's done something terrible…he mentioned his son…and Bertha Jorkins…and - Harry and Voldemort…something about Voldemort getting stronger…"

"Indeed," said Dumbledore, and he quickened his pace as they hurried out into the pitch-darkness.

"He's not his normal self," Josh said, hurrying along beside Dumbledore. "He doesn't seem to know where he is. He keeps talking like he thinks Percy Weasley's there, and then he changes, and says he needs to see you…He's there with Viktor Krum."

"He is?" said Dumbledore sharply, and he began to take longer strides still, so that Josh was running to keep up. "Do you know if anybody else saw Mr. Crouch?"

"No," Josh said. "Mr. Bagman had just finished telling us about the third task, we stayed behind and Krum wanted to talk, and then Mr. Crouch appeared out of the forest -"

"Where are they?" said Dumbledore as the Beauxbatons carriage emerged from the darkness.

"Over here," Josh said, moving in front of Dumbledore, leading the way through the trees. He couldn't hear Crouch's voice, but he knew where he was going; it hadn't been much past the Beauxbatons carriage…somewhere around here…

"Krum?" Josh shouted. "Mr. Crouch?" No one answered. "They were here," Josh said to Dumbledore as he looked around, but it was too dark to tell. "They were definitely somewhere around here…"

"_Lumos_," Dumbledore said, lighting his wand and holding it up.

Its narrow beam traveled from black trunk to black trunk, illuminating the ground. And then it fell upon a pair of feet.

Josh and Dumbledore hurried forward. Krum was sprawled on the forest floor. He seemed to be unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mr. Crouch. Dumbledore bent over Krum and gently lifted one of his eyelids.

"Stunned," he said softly. His half-moon glasses glittered in the wand light as he peered around at the surrounding trees.

"_Lumos_," Josh murmured and his wand lit. He held it out in front of him towards Krum for more light.

"Should I go and get someone?" he said once he had established that he could see no one. "Madam Pomfrey?"

"No," said Dumbledore swiftly. "Stay here."

He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Josh saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird.

Then Dumbledore bent over Krum again, pointed his wand at him, and muttered, "_Ennervate_."

Krum opened his eyes. He looked dazed. When he saw Dumbledore, he tried to sit up, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still.

"He attacked me!" Krum muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madman attacked me! I vos looking around to see vat had made a rustling sound and he attacked from behind!"

"Lie still for a moment," Dumbledore said.

The sound of thunderous footfalls reached them, and Hagrid came panting into sight with Fang at his heels. He was carrying his crossbow.

"Professor Dumbledore!" he said, his eyes widening. "Josh - what the -?"

"Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore. "His student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Moody -"

"No need, Dumbledore," said a wheezy growl. "I'm here." Moody was limping toward them, leaning on his staff, his wand lit. "Damn leg," he said furiously. "Would've been here quicker… what's happened? Snape said something about Crouch -"

"Crouch?" said Hagrid blankly.

"Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!" said Dumbledore sharply.

"Oh yeah… right y'are, Professor…" said Hagrid, and he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang trotting after him.

"I don't know where Barty Crouch is," Dumbledore told Moody, "but it is essential that we find him."

"I'm onto it," growled Moody, and he pulled out his wand and limped off into the forest but not before he had once quick glance at Josh.

Neither Dumbledore nor Josh spoke again until they heard the unmistakable sounds of Hagrid and Fang returning. Karkaroff was hurrying along behind them. He was wearing his sleek silver furs, and he looked pale and agitated.

"What is this?" he cried when he saw Krum on the ground and Dumbledore and Harry beside him. "What's going on?"

"I vos attacked!" said Krum, sitting up now and rubbing his head.

"By who?" Karkaroff said, and then his eyes fell on Josh. "Of course!" he shouted, pointing at Josh. "Caught red handed are we?"

"What?" Josh said, appalled. "You think I attacked you precious seeker?" Josh was about to raise his wand arm, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm afraid it wasn't young Josh who attacked Viktor, Igor," Dumbledore said.

"Then who was it?" Karkaroff growled.

"Mr. Crouch or votever his name vos -" Krum said.

"Crouch attacked you? Crouch attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"

"Igor," Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn himself up, clutching his furs around him, looking livid.

"Treachery!" he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretenses, Dumbledore! This is not an equal competition! First you sneak Mister Black into the tournament, though he is underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put my champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences - here's what I think of you!"

Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore's feet. In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff's furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree.

"Apologize!" Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for breath, Hagrid's massive fist at his throat, his feet dangling in midair.

"Hagrid, no!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing.

Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon his head.

"Kindly escort Joshua back up to the castle, Hagrid," said Dumbledore sharply.

Breathing heavily, Hagrid gave Karkaroff a glowering look.

"Maybe I'd better stay here. Headmaster…"

"You will take Joshua back to school, Hagrid," Dumbledore repeated firmly. "Take him right up to Gryffindor Tower. And Josh - I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do - any owls you might want to send - they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"

"Er - yes, Professor," Josh said, nodding.

"I'll leave Fang with yeh Headmaster," Hagrid said, staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and tree roots. "Stay, Fang. C'mon, Josh."

They marched in silence past the Beauxbatons carriage and up toward the castle.

"How dare he," Hagrid growled as they strode past the lake. "How dare he accuse Dumbledore? Like Dumbledore'd do anythin' like that. Like Dumbledore wanted you in the tournament in the firs' place, Josh. Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more worried than he's bin lately. An' really!" Hagrid suddenly said angrily to Josh, who looked up at him, taken aback. "What were yeh doin', wanderin' off with ruddy Krum? He's from Durmstrang, Josh! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn he, to avenge his fellow classmate? Hasn' Moody taught yeh nothin'? 'Magine lettin him lure yeh off on yer own -"

"It's okay, Hagrid. Krum's okay!" Josh said as they climbed the steps into the entrance hall. "He wasn't trying to jinx me; he just wanted to talk about Hermione -"

"I'll be havin' a few words with Hermione, an' all," said Hagrid grimly, stomping up the stairs. "The less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can trust any of 'em."

"You were getting on all right with Madame Maxime," Josh said, annoyed.

"Don' you talk ter me abou' her!" said Hagrid, and he looked quite frightening for a moment. "I've got her number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell her what's comin in the third task. Ha! You can' trust any of'em!"

Hagrid was in such a bad mood, Josh was quite glad to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. They clambered through the portrait hole into the common room where he noticed Ron and Hermione on a table playing chess, and Hermione who was sitting by the fire, reading a book.

Josh exhaled heavily and walked towards Hermione, and sat down on the plump chair, next to her. He looked into the fire and out of his peripheral vision, he saw Hermione looking at him.

"I'm fine," he said, then turned to Hermione who turned back to her book. He noticed her hand on the armrest and grabbed it gently, squeezing it. Hermione looked back up at Josh. "I'm sorry, Hermione," he whispered. Hermione's eyes brimmed with tears. "I'm so sorry. I…I know you know about me and Daphne, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Hermione looked away, trying to hold in her tears. "Hermione, please. I really love having you as my friend. I do. I don't want to lose you. You've become as big part of my life as Daphne has, and it would be important to me if you would keep being my friend. I know it's going to be hard for you, but all I can promise is that I won't be with her in front of you, just to save you from the pain, alright?"

Hermione nodded as a few tears dropped from her eyes.

"What's going on?" Ron interrupted as he and Harry sat in front of the fire. Hermione turned away and wiped her tears away.

"Oh, we were just talking about some stuff," Josh said. "But I think there is something that you guys should know," and Josh continued to tell his friends what had happened earlier that night.

XXXXXX

"It comes down to this," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked the both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."

"It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Josh and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."

"No, I don't think so," Josh said, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak - I don't think he was up to running or anything."

"He could've Disapparated!" Ron said.

"You can't Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" said Hermione.

"Okay…how's this for a theory," said Ron excitedly. "Krum attacked Crouch - no, wait for it - and then stunned himself!"

"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" said Hermione coldly.

"Oh yeah…"

It was daybreak. Harry, Josh, Ron, and Hermione had crept out of their dormitories very early and hurried up to the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. Now they were standing looking out at the misty grounds. All four of them were puffy-eyed and pale because they had been talking late into the night about Mr. Crouch.

"Just go through it again, Josh," said Hermione, who was now on better terms with Josh since his little speech. "What did Mr. Crouch actually say?"

"I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," Josh said, sighing. "He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and Harry, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault…He mentioned his son."

"Well, that was his fault," said Hermione testily.

"Yeah, well, he was out of his mind," Josh sad. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."

"And…remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively.

"I've told you," Josh repeated dully. "He said he's getting stronger."

There was a pause as Harry took a deep breath and scratched his scar. Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving…"

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," Josh said, and Ron winced at the sound of the name. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore."

Harry turned away from the window and stared up into the rafters. The many perches were half-empty; every now and then, another owl would swoop in through one of the windows, returning from its night's hunting with a mouse in its beak.

"We need to see Professor Moody," said Hermione. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."

"If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," said Harry.

"Unless Crouch was already out of bounds," Josh said, "because it only shows up to the boundaries of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, doesn't -"

"Shh!" said Hermione suddenly.

Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. Harry and Josh could hear two voices, two boys arguing, coming closer and closer.

"- That's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-"

"- we've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did -"

"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"

The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, then froze at the sight of Josh, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.

"Sending a letter," said Harry and George in unison.

"What, at this time?" said Josh and Fred in unison.

Fred grinned.

"Fine - we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us," he said. He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands. Josh glanced at it, but Fred, whether accidentally or on purpose, shifted his hand so that the name on it was covered.

"Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred said, making a mock bow and pointing at the door.

Ron didn't move. "Who're you blackmailing?" he said.

The grins vanished from Fred's face. Josh saw George half glance at Fred, before smiling at Ron.

"Don't be stupid, I was only joking," he said easily.

"Didn't sound like that," said Ron.

Fred and George looked at one another. Then Fred said abruptly, "I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but -"

"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," Ron said. "George's right, you could end up in serious trouble for that."

"Told you, I was joking," said George. He walked over to Fred, pulled the letter out of his hands, and began attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."

"No, I won't!" said Ron hotly.

George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. George turned around and grinned at them. "Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later."

He and Fred left the Owlery. Harry, Josh, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another.

"You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Hermione whispered. "About Crouch and everything?"

"No, I don't think so," Josh said. "If it was something that serious, they'd tell someone. They'd tell Dumbledore."

Ron, however, was suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked him.

"Well…" Ron said slowly, "I dunno if they would. They're…they're obsessed with making money lately, I noticed it when I was hanging around with them sometimes - when - you know -"

"We weren't talking." Harry finished the sentence for him. "Yeah, but blackmail…"

"It's this joke shop idea they've got," said Ron. "I thought they were only saying it to annoy Mum, but they really mean it, they want to start one. They've only got a year left at Hogwarts, they keep going on about how it's time to think about their future, and Dad can't help them, and they need gold to get started."

Hermione was looking uncomfortable now. "Yes, but… they wouldn't do anything against the law to get gold."

"Wouldn't they?" said Ron, looking skeptical. "I dunno… they don't exactly mind breaking rules, do they?"

"Yes, but this is the law," said Hermione, looking scared. "This isn't some silly school rule…They'll get a lot more than detention for blackmail! Ron…maybe you'd better tell Percy…"

"Are you mad?" said Ron. "Tell Percy? He'd probably do a Crouch and turn them in." He stared at the window through which Fred and George's owl had departed, then said, "Come on, let's get some breakfast."

"D'you think it's too early to go and see Professor Moody?" Hermione said as they went down the spiral staircase.

"Yes," said Harry. "He'd probably blast us through the door if we wake him at the crack of dawn; he'll think we're trying to attack him while he's asleep. Let's give it till break."

History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. Josh kept checking Harry's watch, having discarded his own, but Harry's was moving so slowly he could have sworn it had stopped working too.

Josh and the others were so tired they could happily have put their heads down on the desks and slept; even Hermione wasn't taking her usual notes, but was sitting with her head on her hand, gazing at Professor Binns with her eyes out of focus.

When the bell finally rang, Harry, Hermione, and Ron hurried out into the corridors towards the Dark Arts classroom while Josh decided to skip lunch and go have a nap in Gryffindor Tower. He didn't really feel like investigating about Crouch, because honestly, he didn't really care.

The next morning, Sirius sent their owl back. It fluttered down beside Josh at the same moment that a tawny owl landed in front of Hermione, clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet in its beak. She took the newspaper, scanned the first few pages, and said, "Ha! She hasn't got wind of Crouch!" then joined Josh, Ron, and Harry in reading what Sirius had to say on the mysterious events of the night before last.

_Josh - what do you think you are playing at, walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? I want you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night, you and Harry. There is somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed. Josh, your name didn't get into the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone's trying to attack you or Harry, they're on their last chance. Stay close to your friends, do not leave Gryffindor Tower after hours, and arm yourself for the third task. Practice Stunning and Disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. There's nothing you can do about Crouch. Keep your heads down and look after yourself. I'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out-of-bounds again._

_Sirius_

"Who's he, to lecture us about being out-of-bounds?" said Harry in mild indignation as he folded up Sirius's letter and put it inside his robes, surprising Josh since it was his letter. "After all the stuff he did at school!"

"He's worried about you!" said Hermione sharply. "Just like Moody and Hagrid! So listen to them!"

"No one's tried to attack me all year," Harry said. "No one's done anything to me at all, it's all about Josh this year -"

"And they must've done that for a reason, Harry," Hermione said. "Snuffles is right. Maybe they've been biding their time. Maybe this is the task they're going to get you and Josh."

"Look," said Harry impatiently, "let's say Sirius is right, and someone stunned Krum to kidnap Crouch. Well, they would've been in the trees near Josh, wouldn't they? But they waited till Josh was out of the way to act. So, there is no way he's a target, and this whole year, nothing's bad hasn't happened to me, so things are good."

"They couldn't have made it look like an accident if they'd murdered Josh in the forest!" said Hermione. "But if he dies in the third task –"

"They didn't care about attacking Krum, did they?" said Harry. "Why didn't they just polish Josh off at the same time? They could've made it look like Krum and Josh had a duel or something, given Josh's recent actions towards other Durmstrang students."

"Harry's really worried about you," Ron said to Josh as Harry and Hermione argued.

"Yeah, I know," Josh agreed. "I guess since Sirius appeared, Harry thinks of me as a brother. It's a little strange though."

"Harry, I don't understand it either," said Hermione desperately. "I just know there are a lot of odd things going on, and I don't like it…Moody's right - Sirius is right –"She then turned to Josh. "Josh, you've got to get in training for the third task, straight away. Harry, OI think you should train too, just as a precaution. And you make sure you write back to Sirius and promise him you two're not going to go sneaking off alone again."

The Hogwarts grounds never looked more inviting than when the Josh had to stay indoors. For the next few days he spent all of his free time either in the library with Hermione, Harry, Ron, Blaise, Tracey, Daphne and even Draco, looking up hexes, or the Slytherin Chamber, which Harry and Ron were impressed by, and used the bigger Chamber to practice. For precautions, Josh would take turns practicing with his friends. Sometimes he'd practice with separate houses, then sometimes it'd be Harry and the Slytherins or Hermione and Draco, and even Ron, Harry, and Blaise, but Josh was sure to keep Hermione and Daphne, and Ron and Blaise separate, in case something very bad would happen.

One day in the much lit Chamber of Secrets, Josh and Blaise watched as Harry was concentrating on the Stunning Spell, which he had never used before. Josh had already mastered it, and Hermione was helping Harry practice on Ron and for safety, Josh had conjured up a soft mat behind a very uncomfortable Ron.

"Why isn't Josh helping?" Ron asked nervously. "I'm tired of getting thrown into the mat."

"It's okay, Ronnie, I was a target too," Blaise shouted at Ron. "I know how you feel, mate."

Ron muttered something inaudible and got ready to be stunned by his best mate once more.

"Can't we kidnap Mrs. Norris?" Ron suggested on Monday lunchtime as he lay flat on his back in the middle of their Charms classroom, having just been stunned and reawakened by Harry for the fifth time in a row. "Let's stun her for a bit. Or you could use Dobby, Harry; I bet he'd do anything to help you." Hermione glared as she sat next to Josh who was enjoying Ron being stunned.

"I'm not complaining or anything" - Ron got gingerly to her feet, rubbing his backside- "but I'm aching all over..."

"Well, you keep missing the cushions, don't you!" said Hermione impatiently, rearranging the pile of cushions they had used for the Banishing Spell, which Flitwick had left in a cabinet. "Just try and fall backward!"

"Once you're Stunned, you can't aim too well, Hermione!" said Ron angrily.

"Well, I think they've got it now, anyway," said Hermione hastily. "And we don't have to worry about Disarming, because we've been able to do that for ages… I think we ought to start on some of these hexes this evening."

The bell rang. They hastily shoved the cushions back into Flitwick's cupboard and slipped out of the classroom.

"See you at dinner!" said Hermione, and she set off for Arithmancy, while Harry, Josh and Ron headed toward North Tower, and Divination. Broad strips of dazzling gold sunlight tell across the corridor from the high windows. The sky outside was so brightly blue it looked as though it had been enameled.

"It's going to be boiling in Trelawney's room, she never puts out that fire," said Ron as they started up the staircase toward the silver ladder and the trapdoor.

He was quite right. The dimly lit room was swelteringly hot. The fumes from the perfumed fire were heavier than ever. Josh's head swam as he made his way over to one of the curtained windows. While Professor Trelawney was looking the other way, disentangling her shawl from a lamp, he opened it an inch or so and settled back in his chintz armchair, so that a soft breeze played across his face. It was extremely comfortable.

"My dears," said Professor Trelawney, sitting down in her winged armchair in front of the class and peering around at them all with her strangely enlarged eyes, "we have almost finished our work on planetary divination. Today, however, will be an excellent opportunity to examine the effects of Mars, for he is placed most interestingly at the present time. If you will all look this way, I will dim the lights…"

She waved her wand and the lamps went out. The fire was the only source of light now. Professor Trelawney bent down and lifted, from under her chair, a miniature model of the solar system, contained within a glass dome. It was a beautiful thing; each of the moons glimmered in place around the nine planets and the fiery sun, all of them hanging in thin air beneath the glass. Josh watched lazily as Professor Trelawney began to point out the fascinating angle Mars was making to Neptune.

He was bored and wished he could just go take a nap. He looked over at Harry who had already fallen asleep and sighed in envy. Josh watched and listened to Trelawney and when heard Harry began to moan and mumble. He turned and looked at Harry who was sweaty profusely. Josh turned to Ron who too noticed Harry's behavior, and shook him.

"Harry," he whispered, and then Harry got louder and talked in his sleep. Many faces turned to look at Harry.

"Harry," Josh whispered, but Harry didn't answer as he began turning his head and mumbling, shaking, and then he suddenly shouted out and fell to the ground, clutching his scar, breathing heavily, and wide awake. Everybody noticed him and were all now watching him.

Ron was kneeled next to Harry, looking terrified. "You all right?" he said.

"Of course he isn't!" said Professor Trelawney, looking thoroughly excited. Her great eyes loomed over Harry, gazing at him. "What was it, Potter? A premonition? An apparition? What did you see?"

"Nothing," Harry said, but Josh knew it was a downright lie. Harry sat up.

"You were clutching your scar!" said Professor Trelawney. "You were rolling on the floor, clutching your scar! Come now Potter, I have experience in these matters!"

Harry looked up at her. "I need to go to the hospital wing, I think," he said. "Bad headache."

"My dear, you were undoubtedly stimulated by the extraordinary clairvoyant vibrations of my room!" said Professor Trelawney. "If you leave now, you may lose the opportunity to see further than you have ever -"

"I don't want to see anything except a headache cure," said Harry.

He stood up. The class backed away. They all looked unnerved.

"See you later," Harry muttered to Ron and Josh, and he picked up his bag and headed for the trapdoor, ignoring Professor Trelawney, who was wearing an expression of great frustration, as though she had just been denied a real treat.

"What was that all about?" Ron said to Josh.

Josh shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't think it's good," he replied.


	28. The Third Task

**A/n: So, skipped a Chapter, because it was all Harry, and because Josh wasn't there. And I think you may like this one, hopefully. If I wrote any kind of mistakes, let me know, I will fix them ASAP.**

Chapter 28: The Third Task

Later that day, back in the Gryffindor tower Harry told Josh, Ron, and Hermione what he had learned when he had went to Dumbledore's office. He told them about his adventure through a Pensieve and what he saw, learning all about Igor Karkaroff, Bertha Jorkins, Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch Jr., and how Snape is a death eater. Most important Dumbledore spoke to Harry about how Voldemort was getting Stronger.

"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?" Ron whispered.

Josh, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat up late in the common room once again that night, talking it all over. Ron stared into the common room fire. Josh thought he saw Ron shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm.

"And he trusts Snape?" Ron said. "He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?"

"Yes," Harry said. Josh looked into the fire. Snape a death eater? He'd seem like one, but lately, the way Snape had been treating him, was father-like or like Dumbledore's relationship towards Harry.

Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her knees. Josh thought she looked as though she could have done with a Pensieve.

"Rita Skeeter," she muttered finally.

"How can you be worrying about her now?" said Ron, in utter disbelief.

"I'm not worrying about her," Hermione said to her knees. "I'm just thinking…remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks?' I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial; she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember…'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."

"Yeah, but Bagman couldn't have passed on the information on purpose, did he?" Josh said.

"And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Ron said, turning back to Harry.

"Yeah," said Harry, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage."

"We never thought of her, did we?" said Ron slowly. "Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it-"

"Of course she doesn't," said Hermione sharply. "Look what happened to Hagrid when that cow found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth."

Hermione looked at her watch. "We haven't done any practicing!" she said, looking shocked. "We were going to do the Impediment Curse, Harry! Josh has it well enough, but we'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on, you two, you need to get some sleep."

Harry, Josh, and Ron went slowly upstairs to their dormitory. Josh pulled on his pajamas, and climbed into his four-poster. Lying in the darkness, Josh wondered about Harry's words from the other day and today. Everything was strange, and Josh still didn't know why someone would put his name in the Goblet of Fire. He wasn't the boy-who-lived, and he wasn't the one who nearly destroyed Voldemort. That was all Harry. Josh then fell asleep.

_Josh leaned down against something that was made of stone once again. He felt tired and wondered why he was so tired. He wasn't just tired either, he was in pain all over his body, but his left hand was what was in pain the most. He lifted his left hand and looked at it to see his ring finger was missing as if it had been cut off. But what happened to his finger, why was it gone? And then, he heard a voice._

_"Ah, Young Black. You have helped brought me back to full life."_

_Josh looked up at a shadowy figure that he couldn't make out, but he could see red eyes and black robes. He looked around which was a dark graveyard and there held up on a large stone monument, was Harry. _

_"Now that I'm back, young Black, I can see that you're a very powerful wizard. Having Slytherin blood in you makes you a powerful wizard, just as I am. Now join me." And a pale, skinny, and skeletal looking hand reached out in front of Josh. "Join me."_

_Josh stared at the skeletal hand, and then reached for it with his own hand and grabbed it. Josh was pulled up to his feet by the figure who was the only one that noticed that Josh's eyes too were now red..._

Josh jerked awaked and sat up in bed, covered in sweat, wondering what the hell kind of dream was that.

Over the days, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Blaise, and Daphne were all supposed to be studying for their exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping Josh prepare for the third task.

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said shortly when Josh pointed this out to them and said he didn't mind practicing on her own for a while, "at least we'll get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class."

"Good training for when we're all Aurors," said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair.

Hermione nodded with a smile and glanced over at Josh and Daphne who were laughing as Josh helped her with the Impedimenta Curse. Her heart sank a little and turned away towards Harry and Josh who were shooting the same curse at one another for fun.

The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Josh was practicing hexes and jinxes at every available moment.

He felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, but he had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead.

Tired of walking in on Josh, Harry, Blaise, Daphne, Tracey, Draco, Hermione or Ron all over the school, Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes.

Josh had already mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers and mastered the Reductor Curse, which would enable them to blast solid objects out of their way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make their wands point due north, therefore enabling Josh to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He also master stronger shield spells and a few spells he looked up on his own, ones that Cyrus had use on him.

Everything was going great and Josh's Gryffindor and Slytherin friends were getting along well enough, with the exception of Ron and Blaise or Hermione and Daphne for personal reasons and Draco, but they tolerated one another. Only Hermione was nice enough to carry on small talk with Draco, but Josh knew it would take time with Harry and Ron to accept that Draco has changed. There was also another strange bond going on which was Ron and Tracey. At first, their relationship was like Ron and Hermione's but it turned out that Ron thought that Tracey was pretty funny, but he was still holding back because she was a Slytherin.

To see if he was good enough, Josh had Harry, Ron, and Blaise all attack him at once, which was a stupid idea as Josh did a little horrible and was injured by Harry, who Josh didn't see coming. Harry hit his wand hand, breaking it.

"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. As everyone else practiced the spells, Draco, who also took Healing classes, helped Josh who was taking a break. "Some of these are bound to come in handy."

"Come and look at this," said Ron, who was now standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Nott doing?"

Harry, Josh, Hermione and the other Slytherins went to see. Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Nott was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.

"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously.

"He can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you, and those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's see you try that Shield Charm again."

Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione and Daphne, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Josh through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry and Josh in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not their responsibility, nor was it within their power to influence it.

_If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, _he wrote_, my priority is to ensure both of your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you two while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Joshua, concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters._

Josh's nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, he was confident that, this time, he had done everything in his power to prepare for the task. For another, this was the final hurdle, and however well or badly he did, the tournament would at last be over, which would be an enormous relief.

Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Josh a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Josh appreciated it all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.

"What?" said Harry, Josh, and Ron together, staring at her.

"Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight, but Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said, "No way. Not today. That old cow."

"What?" said Harry. "Rita Skeeter again?"

"No," said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to push the paper out of sight.

"It's about me or Josh isn't it?" said Harry.

"No," said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone. But before Harry could demand to see the paper Theodore Nott shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table.

"Hey, Potter! How're your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?"

Nott was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. Most of the Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Harry's reactions.

"Let me see it," Harry said to Ron. "Give it here."

Very reluctantly, Ron handed over the newspaper. Harry turned it over and Josh leaned in was staring into a picture of Harry.

_'HARRY POTTER DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS'_

_The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to attend Hogwarts School._

_Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain on the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying. _

_It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion._

_"They might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."_

_The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public._

_"He can speak Parseltongue," reveals Theodore Nott, a model Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind it after they saw him lose their temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power."_

_Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any witch or wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."_

_But that's all we found out about theories of a Parselmouth and an Heir of Slytherin. Rumors are said that there is a true of Heir of Slytherin attending the school of Hogwarts. Rumors are said that his person is none other than the Fourth Triwizard Champion, Son of Azkaban Escapee and Azkaban attendant, Joshua Malcom Black! We had Professional Scholars look up the history of young Joshua Black and did indeed find that he was related to not just Salazar Slytherin, but to He-who-must-not-be-named as well!_

"How in the hell did they get this information!" Josh growled as people who were reading the Prophet looked up at Josh. Ron was looking very uncomfortable at the moment.

_Our source tells us that like his distant cousin, Young Black has begun to follow in the Dark Lord's footsteps as seen using unknown dark curses and even going as far as attacking his first cousin, Cyrus Emrys. _

"_I was the best cousin I could be to Joshua," Cyrus said, a top student of Durmstrang. "But he snapped and he attacked me for no reason. I was shocked and terrified. He put me in the Hospital Quarters for a month."_

_Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Joshua Black might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening._

"Gone off us a bit hasn't she?" said Harry lightly as Josh folded the paper and shoved it back to Hermione.

Over at the Slytherin table, Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at them, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes.

"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Ron said, as Josh sat still looking around the Great Hall at the many faces reading the Daily Prophet. "There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard -"

"The window was open," said Harry. "I opened it to breathe."

"You were at the top of North Tower!" Hermione said. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"

"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!" said Harry. "You tell me how she did it!"

"I've been trying!" said Hermione. "But I…but…" An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Are you all right?" said Ron, frowning at her.

"Yes," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Harry, Josh, and Ron stared at each other.

"I've had an idea," Hermione said, gazing into space. "I think I know…because then no one would be able to see…even Moody…and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge…but she's not allowed…she's definitely not allowed…I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library - just to make sure!" With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.

"Oi!" Ron called after her. "We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey," he said, turning back to Harry and Josh, "she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class, Josh – take another nap?" He asked uncomfortably.

Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard champion, Josh had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task or catching up on some rest.

"Most likely," Josh said to Ron who Josh noticed that he was uncomfortable towards him; but just then. Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward her.

"Mister Black, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.

"But the task isn't till tonight!" Josh said.

"I'm aware of that, Mister Black," McGonagall said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them." She moved away. Josh gaped after her.

"Is she serious?" Josh asker Harry and Ron. "My parents can't be here and my Grandfather's missing. What, is Dumbledore going to just allow Snuffles in through the front door?"

"Dunno," said Harry with a shrug. "Come on Ron, we'd better hurry, we're going to be late for Binns. See you later."

Josh finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall, noticing all the ugly stares some of the other kids were giving him. He saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Josh stayed where he was. He really didn't want to go into the chamber. He had no family left - no family who would turn up to see him risk his life, anyway.

But just as he was getting up, thinking that he might as well go up to the library and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out.

"Oi, Black, come on, they're waiting for you!"

Utterly perplexed, Josh got up. His parents or his Grandfather couldn't possibly be here, could they? Josh walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber. Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his fathers hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand.

And then he saw them. Three unfamiliar faces. The first face he noticed was a woman, with dark, twinkling eyes, a pale, heart-shaped face and short hot-pink hair; then the man who was a fair-haired, and big-bellied; and lastly, and older woman with light brown hair instead of dark, with softer and wide eyes. They were all smiling and beaming up at Josh.

"Surprise!" The younger woman said as Josh walked up to the three, clueless.

"Who are you?" Josh asked.

"Oh, he looks just like Sirius, doesn't he?" The older woman said, smiling at Josh.

"Hello, there son," The man said, holding out his hand. Josh shook it. "You're probably wondering who we are, and well, we are you family!"

"What?" Josh said as his eyes widened.

"It's true," the younger woman said. "We're your cousins, but you can call me Tonks."

"Tonks?" Josh said, thinking that was a strange name.

"Her name is Nymphadora Tonks," the older woman corrected. "Dora likes to complain about not liking her name. Hello, Josh, I'm Andromeda Tonks and this is my husband Ted Tonks. And like my daughter said, we are your family, related to Sirius."

Josh stared at the trio and then he smiled. "I have more family? Better than Cyrus?"

"Who?" Dora asked.

"Nothing, never mind," Josh said, his mood better than ever. "This is great!"

Suddenly, the doors opened to the chamber. Josh turned around and was shocked to see Cyrus walk in. "Are we late?" he said, confusedly.

"We?" Josh said.

And then a man in black suit walked in with different colored eyes and dark hair. "Oh, you don't think you're good ole' Uncle Silus would miss you win this tournament, would you?" Josh took a step back into Dora, staring in horror at his Uncle Silus. "Now, come over and give your Uncle a hug!"

Josh didn't move, but unfazed, Silus and Cyrus walked up to Josh and the Tonks Family. "Hello, I'm Silus Emrys," Silus introduced to the Tonks's. "And this is my eldest son, Cyrus, and may I introduce to you my second, Rina." And from behind Silus, a 13 year old girl shyly walked out from behind Silus. Josh was surprised to see her as it had been a long time since he'd seen his younger cousin. We're Josh's family from his mother's side."

The doors opened again, and Draco entered, but he wasn't alone, he was with his mother and walked up and joined the group. Josh was surprised to see Draco and his mother.

"Andromeda," Draco's mother said a bit coldly.

"Narcissa," Andromeda greeted just as coldly.

"You know each other?" Josh asked.

"Yes," Andromeda said. "She's my sister."

"You're sisters?" Josh said, and then looked at Draco. "You didn't tell me that?"

"I didn't know," Draco said, glancing at Cyrus, Silus, and Rina. "Who are they?"

"My mom's family," Josh said, sighing.

"Well, it looks like you have a big family here, Joshua," Narcissa said, smiling, though Josh could tell it wasn't genuine. "It's a shame your mother and father aren't here to this for themselves." Josh didn't say anything but stared at the older woman.

"I agree," Silus said. "It's a very shame my younger sister couldn't be here today since she's in Azkaban. Oh, and your father, on the loose like a mad man."

"My father isn't a mad man," Josh growled.

"Oh? And how would you know? You never met the man," Silus said, and then smirked, while Josh looked away, clenching his teeth and his fists. "Unless you've been in contact with him, and you know exactly where he is."

Josh shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "I just know from what my mother told me."

"Oh, right, of course," Silus said, nodding. "But there is one matter that we need to discuss."

"What's that?" Josh said.

"About you attack my eldest son, young Joshua," Silus spoke, smiling smugly. "You'll be happy to know that I reported you to the Department of Law Enforcement. And once the year is over, you'll be happy to know that over the summer, you'll be under surveillance."

"You're lying," Josh said.

"No, Josh," Dora spoke up. Josh turned to look at her. "He's telling the truth." Josh sighed and turned back to Silus, who moved next to Josh and whispered in his ear.

"And know this, young Joshua," he whispered. "You attack my family again, you will have to deal with me, and I'm very sure you know what I'm capable of."

Josh grinded his teeth and then whispered back, "And if Cyrus told you everything, I'll have you know that I'm willing to do anything to stay alive."

Silus smirked and stood up. "Come along, Cyrus, Rina," he said. "We'll be rooting for you," he said sarcastically to Josh and then the three Emrys left the room.

"Yes, I have to go as well," Narcissa spoke, "Come along, Draco," she said, and then walked off.

"Good luck," Draco said, and then followed his mother.

"Wow, that was intense," Dora said.

"I agree," Ted said. "How about we try and make the best of it, yeah, Andromeda?"

Andromeda sighed heavily but smiled. "Of course," she said, placing a hand on Josh's shoulder. Josh looked up to the Tonks's, already liking them more than the Emrys or Malfoys with the exception of Draco.

Josh had a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with the three adults, his new family, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship.

Mr. and Mrs. Tonks were intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after they had left school, and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg. He also learned that his cousin, Nymphadora Tonks was finishing up her last year of Auror Training and would soon become a full Auror in just a few short months.

"Yes, and I have read your file," Dora said, "And it's very interesting than most other kids your age. Harry's is just as unique."

"Yeah, things kind of get out of hand sometimes," Josh said, smiling a little. "So you know some stuff in the Ministry, right?"

"Depends on what you want to know," Dora said.

"I want to know about Barty Crouch and his family and what's going on," Josh instantly said.

"Well, thinks aren't so great, really," Dora started. "The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy Weasley's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him but by someone else. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it."

"Great," Josh mumbled.

They returned to the castle for lunch. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all surprised to see Josh sitting with three unfamiliar faces.

"Josh?" Hermione said as the Gryffindor Trio joined them. "Who are you friends?" she asked.

"Guys, meet my extended family," Josh said. "Ted Tonks, Andromeda Tonks, and their daughter Nymphadora Tonks, family on Sirius's side."

"Don't worry about introducing yourselves," Dora said, "Harry Potter, of course, who doesn't know you, and you're the best friend, Ron Weasley, and you're Joshua's girlfriend, Hermione Granger."

Hermione blushed. "You don't believe everything you read in the papers do you?" she said.

Dora laughed. "I was only joking," she said.

Hermione nodded and smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you," she said sweetly.

"Likewise, dear," Mrs. Tonks said.

"So what are you all doing here?" Ron asked.

"Come to watch young Joshua in the last task!" said Mr. Tonks brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change. How were your exams, if I may ask?"

"Brilliant," Hermione answered with a bright smile.

"Yeah, they were okay," Harry said with a nod.

"Yeah, but I couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

"Hmm, I recall a certain girl who did the same," Mrs. Tonks said, looking over at her daughter who was ignoring her mother's stare.

"Josh?"

Josh turned to see Blaise, Daphne, Draco, and Tracey standing there looking curious. "Who are they?" Blaise asked, sitting down, next to Josh.

"Guys, meet my extended family, Nymphadora, and Mr. and Mrs. Tonks," Josh said. "Tonks family, meet my Slytherin friends, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, and Tracey Davis."

"Hi," Daphne said to Dora as she and Tracey sat down, no one in the group caring that some Slytherins were there, though they had some nasty stares from other Gryffindors.

Josh, and the Tonks Family whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Josh thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her.

There were more courses than usual, but Josh, who was starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.

"Oh no," Harry said as he checked his pockets while his friends watched.

"What's the matter, mate?" Ron asked.

"I left my wand in my bag in the tower," Harry answered with a sigh. "I need to go get it, save me a seat will you? "He said to Ron who nodded, and then quickly ran off.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now?"

Josh got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him; the Tonks' and Hermione all wished her good luck, and he headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.

"Feeling all right, Joshy?" Bagman asked as they went down the stone steps onto the grounds. "Confident?"

"Enough, I hope," Josh said. It was sort of true; he was nervous, but he kept running over all the hexes and spells he had been practicing in his mind as they walked, and the knowledge that he could remember them all made him feel better.

They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy.

Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

The champions nodded.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers.

"Good luck, Joshua," Hagrid whispered, and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze.

Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "_Sonorus_," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Joshua Black, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

Josh looked into the stands, and could just make out Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, Dora, and all his friends applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands, someone was missing, and that someone was Harry, which Josh remembered that he had left his wand back in Gryffindor Tower, which would take a little time for him to get back.

"So… on my whistle, Josh and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three - two - one -"

He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Josh and Cedric hurried forward into the maze.

The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. Josh felt almost as though he were underwater again. He pulled out his wand, muttered, "Lumos," and heard Cedric do the same just behind him.

After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other. Josh exhaled and then ran right, but not before something caught him around the ankles and pulled him to the ground. Josh quickly sat up and turned around, see Cedric disappear through the other path.

"Wanker," Josh growled, and stood up and began making his way down his path.

Josh heard Bagman's whistle for the second time. Krum had entered the maze. Josh sped up. His chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned right, and hurried on, holding his wand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight.

Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were now inside.

Josh kept looking behind her. The old feeling that he was being watched was upon him. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. He reached a second fork.

"Point Me," he whispered to his wand, holding it flat in his palm.

The wand spun around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and he knew that he needed to go northwest for the center of the maze. The best he could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible.

The path ahead was empty too, and when Josh reached a right turn and took it, he again found his way unblocked.

Josh didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving him. Surely he should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring him into a false sense of security. Then he heard movement right behind him. Josh held out his wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking.

"Hagrid's damn Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed.

"Where?" Josh asked.

Cedric didn't answer but shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path.

Josh sighed heavily through the nose, annoyed at Cedric's unhelpful silence, but Josh still obviously knew that he shouldn't go the way Cedric came, so he hurried off again in a different direction. Then, as he turned a corner, he saw a dementor gliding towards him. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Josh could hear its rattling breath; he felt clammy coldness stealing over him, but he smiled nonetheless, knowing what he had to do.

Josh summoned the happiest thought he could, concentrated with all his might on the thought of his girlfriend, Daphne, raised her wand, and cried, "_Expecto Patronum_!"

A silver raven erupted from the end of Josh's wand and soared toward the Dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes…Josh had never seen a Dementor stumble.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he shouted, advancing in the wake of his silver Patronus. "You're a stinking Boggart! _Riddikulus_!"

There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. The silver raven faded from sight. Josh was glad that that boggart didn't change into him, and then he'd have a real problem, nonetheless, Josh continued through the maze.

Left… right… left again… Twice he found himself facing dead ends. He did the Four-Point Spell again and found that he was going too far east. Josh turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of him.

Josh approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. This looked like some kind of enchantment. He wondered what it was and if he could blast it out of the way.

"_Reducto_!" he said.

The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. Josh sighed as he should have known better; the Reductor Curse was for solid objects. What would happen if he walked through the mist? Was it worth chancing it, or should he double back? There had to be a way, he didn't want to turn back.

He was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence.

"Fleur?" Josh yelled, whipping around.

There was silence. Josh stared all around. What had happened to Fleur? Her scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. Josh took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist.

The world turned upside down. Josh was suddenly hanging from the ground, with his hair on end, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. He hung there, terrified, and tried to think of a way down. It felt as though his feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below him, the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if she tried to move one of her feet, she would fall away from the earth completely.

"Great," Josh said to himself. _Think_, he told himself, as all the blood rushed to his head, _think_…

But not one of the spells he had practiced had been designed to combat a sudden reversal of ground and sky. Should he dare move his foot? He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He had two choices - try and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued and disqualified from the task.

No, he wasn't just going to quit like that. Josh shut his eyes, so he wouldn't be able to see the view of endless space below him, and pulled his right foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling.

Immediately, the world righted itself. Josh fell forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. He felt temporarily limp with shock, and then smiled in relief. He took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at him in the moonlight.

Josh paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Fleur. He was sure it had been she who had screamed. What had she met? Was she all right? There was no sign of red sparks - did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble that she couldn't reach her wand? Josh took the right fork with a feeling of increasing unease…but at the same time, he couldn't help thinking_. One champion down…_

The cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as though Fleur was no longer in the running. Josh had got this far, hadn't he? What if he actually managed to win? Fleetingly, and for the first time since he'd found himself champion, he saw an image of himself, raising the Triwizard Cup in front of the rest of the school…

He met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice he took the same wrong turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his wandlight waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls.

Then he rounded another corner and found herself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt and it was enormous. Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. Its long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armor glinted in the light from Josh's wand, which he pointed at it.

"_Stupefy_!"

The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; Josh ducked just in time before he was hit with his own spell. The skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward her.

"_Impedimenta_!" Josh yelled. The spell hit the skrewt's armor again and ricocheted off; Josh staggered back a few paces and fell over.

"That's it," he growled out in frustration, and kneeled down, touching his hand to the ground and then pointed his wand at his hand. "_Natorus Mokta_!"

Josh felt as the magic soared through his arm and hand, and through the ground, and within seconds, branches, roots, and vines appeared from the hedges and wrapped around the skrewt and was pulled into the hedge. Josh smiled and then quickly ran passed it before it set the hedges on fire.

Josh took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing himself to stop, heart hammering, he performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest.

He had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when he heard something in the path running parallel to his own that made him stop dead.

"What are you doing?" yelled Cedric's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"

And then Josh heard Krum's voice.

"_Crucio_!"

The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. Surprised, Josh began sprinting up his path, trying to find a way into Cedric's. When none appeared, he tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn't very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Josh forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; he struggled through it, tearing his clothes, and looking to his right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him.

Josh pulled himself up and pointed his wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and began to run.

"_Fulgur_!" Josh yelled.

The curse hit Krum in the back, sending him flying forward and hit the ground with a thud, and lay motionless, face down in the grass. Josh dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face.

"Are you all right?" Josh said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm, and knowing what it was like to take that curse.

"Yeah, I'm fine," panted Cedric, shrugging Josh off of him. "Yeah… I don't believe it…he crept up behind me…I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me…" Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Josh looked down at Krum.

"I can't believe he did that… I thought he was all right," Josh said, staring at Krum.

"So did I," said Cedric.

"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" Josh asked.

"Of course I did," said Cedric. "You don't think Krum got her too?"

"I don't know," said Josh.

"Should we leave him here?" Cedric muttered.

"Yes," Josh said immediately. "But I suppose we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him…otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt."

"He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay.

Josh and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them.

Then Cedric said, "Well…I s'pose we'd better go on…"

"Yeah," Josh said. "You're welcome by the way."

It was an odd moment. He and Cedric had been briefly united against Krum – now the fact that they were opponents came back to Josh. The two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, one trying to outrun the other, and then Josh turned left, and Cedric right. Cedric's footsteps soon died away.

Josh moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure he was moving in the right direction. It was between him and Cedric now. His desire to reach the cup first was now burning stronger than ever.

Every so often he hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made him feel sure he was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as he strode down a long, straight path, she saw movement once again, and her beam of wandlight darkness.

Josh moved ahead, and his light hit a black mound structure. Cautiously, Josh tapped it with his wand, which gave off a thudding sound. He then touched it with his hand with was bumpy, cold, and strange.

"What the heck it this?" He said to himself, and then to get his answer, the mound moved, sprouting eight legs, turning around where Josh saw its menacing eyes and pincers. Josh stepped back in horror as he looked at the second biggest acromantula he had ever faced.

Josh raised his wand and was about to shoot a curse when a smaller acromantula appeared from behind the bigger one. It growled and jumped towards Josh who ducked under the spider, which landed behind him. Josh looked between to two spiders, trapped and not knowing which one to take care of first; or maybe he could do both in at once.

And suddenly, the two spiders advanced towards Josh. Josh quickly threw is wand straight up and twirled in a circle, and then bright it down to the ground, stabbing it, and shouted, "_Offensio Fluctus_!"

Red circular waves of magic sprouted from around Josh and spread out and towards the spiders knocking them back. Josh then pointed at the first and smaller spider, and shouted, "_Reducto!_" And the spell hit the smaller spider which exploded into many pieces of guts and purple blood. Josh then turned to the bigger spider which was outraged at what Josh had just done.

The Acromantula hissed and quickly ran towards Josh who lifted his wand towards the spider, and summoned up a lot of his magic, and shouted, "_REDUCIO!" _The charm soared and hit the giant spider, and within moments, the giant Acromantula shrunk down into a tiny spider, no bigger than Josh's thumb. Josh walked forward and stepped on it, killing it.

"Nice try," he said.

He had to be close now, he had to be…his wand was telling him he was bang on course; as long as he didn't meet anything too horrible, he might have a chance…

Josh broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead. "Point Me!" he whispered again to his wand, and it spun around and pointed his to the right-hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light ahead.

The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path from the left and tackled Josh to the ground. It was Cedric, who stood to his feet.

"I'm not letting the son of a murderer win this tournament," He said, and then began running towards the cup. In anger, Josh rolled around, and pointed his wand at Cedric, tripping him with a Tripping Jinx.

"My father isn't a murderer!" Josh growled, standing up to his feet the same to Cedric did.

Cedric quickly turned towards Josh, shouting, "_Expelliarmus_!"

Josh raised his wand and shouted, "Returnus!" Redirecting Cedric's disarming spell towards him, but it didn't his as Cedric ducked from the spell. While he ducked, Josh took his chance and ran forward and tried to jump over the Hufflepuff, but he was caught into the air and slammed onto the ground.

Josh had the wind knocked out of him, and couldn't breathe. He opened his eyes to see Cedric smile and stand up to his feet and slowly walk towards the cup. Josh slowly stood up while grabbing his stomach, and watched as Cedric was about to grab the cup.

No, it wasn't ending like this, Josh wasn't going to lose. Taking in all his pain, Josh ran in full sprint, as fast as he could towards Cedric and the Cup, and within moments, and at the same exact time, Josh and Cedric both grasped a handle.

Instantly, Josh felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Cedric at his side.


	29. He Has Risen

Chapter 29: He Has Risen

Josh felt his feet slam into the ground; his hand let go of the Triwizard Cup at last. He took a took deep breath, to breathe again and raised his head.

"What happened?" he hoarsely said.

Cedric shook his head. He got up while Josh struggling got to his feet, and they looked around. They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously travelled miles - perhaps hundreds of miles - for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing instead in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to their left. Josh could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside.

Cedric looked down at the Triwizard Cup.

"It's a portkey," Cedric said, shaking his head. "Of course, what did you do now, eh?"

"Me?" Josh groaned, turning to Cedric. "You think I did this? You are as dumb as you look aren't you?"

"Shut it!" Cedric growled. "If you didn't do this then who did?" Josh shrugged.

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure this isn't part of the task," Josh exclaimed, tightly gripping his wand as it was silent and slightly eerie.

"Cedric! Josh!" shouted a familiar voice.

Josh and Cedric whirled around and saw Harry pinned up against large stone monument, magically.

"Harry?" Josh gasped as him and Cedric ran over to Harry. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I dunno," Harry groaned. "I went to get my wand and I was attacked from behind, but from my training I tried to fight back, but I got knocked out and woke up here."

"Did you get a look at the attacker's face?" Josh asked. Harry nodded.

"Well who was it?" Cedric asked.

"Glad you could make it, Joshua," said a familiar voice; one very familiar to Josh. Josh and Cedric turned around and faced Josh's Uncle Silus, leaning against a tall grave. "I knew you'd get that cup."

"He's one of the men in my dreams," Harry said.

"What?" Josh said, looking at Harry. "Dreams? Harry, why didn't you tell me this?" Harry didn't answer, as Josh wondered if Harry did know something Josh didn't.

"Someone else's coming," Cedric said suddenly.

Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched another figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. Josh couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, he could tell that it was carrying something. Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face. And - several paces nearer, the gap between them closing all the time - they saw that the thing in the person's arms looked like a baby…or was it merely a bundle of robes?

Josh lowered his wand slightly and glanced sideways at Cedric. Cedric shot him a quizzical look. Harry groaned out. Josh turned to look at Harry; his scar seemed to be bleeding a little. And at the moment, Josh was sure who that was in the man's arms. Josh turned back to watch the approaching figure. It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second Josh, Harry, and Cedric and the short figure simply looked at one another.

And then, without warning, Harry let out a scream of pain, shocking both Josh and Cedric.

"Harry!" Josh shouted.

From far away, above his head, he heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare."

Josh back around towards Cedric, but it was too late. A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night: "_Avada Kedavra_!"

A blast of green light reflected through Josh's eyes, and hitting Cedric right in the chest, throwing him to the ground. Cedric lied spread-eagled on the ground beside them. He was dead. Josh stared in horror, never before seeing death.

For a second that contained an eternity, Josh stared into Cedric's face, at his open grey eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. Josh couldn't believe it.

Suddenly, a spell whizzed behind his neck, slightly scratching him. Josh quickly dove behind a stone grave as another spell shattered the corner of it.

"Come on, Joshua," Silus spoke. "Surely you're not that kind of coward?" Breathing heavily, Josh slowly stood out from behind the stone grave, pointing his wand at Silus. "There you go," he said. "Now, show me what you've learned from Hogwarts, boy!"

"_Stupefy_!" Josh shouted, but Silus easily deflected the spell.

"Come on, you can do better than that," Silus replied.

Josh tried to slow down his breath, but his heart beat steadily fast, and pointed his wand again. "Impedimenta!" He shouted, but Silus one again deflected the spell, and then threw is wand out in front of him where a white spell flew out of his wand and towards Josh.

Josh quickly lifted his wand and shouted, "_Protego_!" and his shield was up, but Silus's spell shattered it, hitting Josh in the chest and sending flying into the monument Harry was pinned against. Josh tried to get up, but he couldn't. Not because it was magical, but because he was in too much pain. Silus stood there and laughed at his nephew and then waved his wand conjuring ropes around Josh.

The short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, lit his wand, and walked over to the stone monument towards Harry and Josh. Josh looked up at it and noticed the name that was on it.

TOM RIDDLE

Josh turned back to the cloaked figure and could hear shallow, fast breathing from the depths of the hood from where he was; he saw a hand with a finger missing from under the figure's cloak.

And Josh realized who was under the hood. "Wormtail," Josh groaned.

But Wormtail not hear him; he was busy checking the tightness of Josh's cords, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, rumbling over the knots. Wormtail drew a length of some black material from the inside of his cloak and stuffed it roughly into Harry's mouth; then, without a word, he turned from Harry and hurried away.

Cedric's body was lying some twenty feet away. Some way beyond him, glinting in the starlight, lay the Triwizard Cup. Josh's wand was on the ground at his feet. The bundle of robes that Harry and Josh had thought was a baby was close by, at the foot of the grave. It seemed to be stirring fretfully. Josh looked at Harry who looked back.

And then they heard the hissing noises. Josh looked and saw a gigantic snake slithering through the grass, circling the headstone where he was tied to. Wormtail's fast, wheezy breathing was growing louder again. It sounded as though he was forcing something heavy across the ground. Then he came back pushing a stone cauldron to the foot of the grave. It was full of what seemed to be water and it was larger than any cauldron Josh had ever used; a great stone belly large enough for a full-grown man to sit in.

The thing inside the bundle of robes on the ground was stirring more persistently, as though it was trying to free itself. Now Wormtail was busying himself at the bottom of the cauldron with a wand. Suddenly there were crackling names beneath it. The large snake slithered away into the darkness. The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast. The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire. Steam was thickening, blurring the outline of Wormtail tending the fire. The movements beneath the robes became more agitated. And Josh heard the high, cold voice again.

"Hurry!"

The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks now. It might have been encrusted with diamonds.

"It is ready Master."

"Now…" said the cold voice.

Wormtail pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them. It was as though Wormtail had flipped over a stone and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind - but worse, a hundred times worse. The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Josh had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face - no child alive ever had a face like that - flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.

The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin arms, put them around Wormtail's neck, and Wormtail lifted it. As he did so, his hood fell back, and Josh saw the look of revulsion on Wormtail's weak, pale face in the firelight as he carried the creature to the rim of the cauldron. For one moment, Josh saw the evil, flat face illuminated in the sparks dancing on the surface of the potion. And then Wormtail lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; Josh heard its frail body hit the bottom with a soft thud.

Wormtail then began to speak. His voice shook; he seemed frightened beyond his wits. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke to the night.

"_Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!_"

The surface of the grave at Harry's feet cracked. Horrified, Harry and Josh watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air at Wormtail's command and fell softly into the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue.

And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified sobs.

_"Flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master."_

He stretched his right hand out in front of him - the hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward. Josh watched as the frightened man slashed off his own hand and winced when Wormtail let out his scream of pain. Josh looked and saw his hand on the ground. With Wormtail's anguished panting, the man picked it up and threw it in the cauldron making a sickening splash.

Wormtail was gasping and moaning with agony. Josh watched as he moved over to Josh's left hand.

"What are you doing?" Josh growled out but he was ignored as Wormtail grabbed Josh's hand. He waved the wand over Josh's hand and felt something pull into his left ring finger.

"_F-flesh, blood, and magic unwillingly taken from the Heir…you will…make the Dark Lord stronger!"_

Wormtail then pulled the knife on Josh's hand. Josh screamed out in pain as Wormtail slashed off his left ring finger, and the stood up, tossing it into the cauldron.

Wormtail then moved over to Harry.

_"B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe."_

Neither Josh nor Harry could do anything to prevent it, both unable to move. Josh saw the shining silver dagger shaking in Wormtail's remaining hand. He saw its point penetrate the crook of Harry's right arm and blood seeping down the sleeve of his torn robes. Wormtail, still panting with pain, rumbled in his pocket for a glass vial and held it to Harry's cut, so that a dribble of blood fell into it.

Wormtail staggered back to the cauldron with Harry's blood. He poured it inside. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white. Wormtail, his job done, dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.

The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened…but Josh wasn't paying too much attention as he was in a lot of pain. His back, his head, his abs and stomach, and his left hand were in pain.

And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, obliterating everything in front of Harry and Josh, so that he couldn't see Wormtail or Cedric or anything but vapor hanging in the air…

But then, through the mist in front of him, they saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.

"Robe me," said the high, cold voice from behind the steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them one handed over his master's head.

The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry…and Harry stared back into the face. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils…

Lord Voldemort had risen again.

Josh struggled against the ropes. He was tired and was in pain all over his body, but then he felt the ropes disappear from around his body. Josh slowly lifted his left hand, hoping it was still there, but as he looked at his own hand with his missing finger, he knew it was all real.

"Ah, Young Joshua Black. You have helped brought me back to full life and stronger at that."

Josh looked up at Voldemort, seeing red and snake-like face.

"Now that I'm back, young Black, I know that you are a very powerful wizard. Having Slytherin blood in you makes you a powerful wizard, just as I am. I know what you are capable of and I know what you can do. And I do have a request of you," said the cold voice. Josh continued to look at the Dark Lord, staring into his eyes.

And a pale, skinny, and skeletal looking hand reached out in front of Josh. "Join me," he said. "Join me and I could give you power; more than you could ever imagine. I can show you real and true magic, magic that can help you live for all eternity. Join me and Join my cause, for our world will be the purest."

Josh stared at the skeletal hand, thinking whether or not if he should take it. Josh stared back into Voldemort's red eyes, and slowly reached up for Voldemort's hand.


	30. The Story of How

Chapter 30: The Story of How

Josh slowly reached up his hand, but then dropped it in exhaustion. He then shook his head towards Voldemort who smiled evilly.

"Now, now, Josh," Voldemort spoke while Josh examined the dark wizard. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers intertwined with one another; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cat's, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness. "If you are the intelligent wizard I was told about, then you will want to join me. I know all about your misdeeds, the ones you've been doing since the summer you attacked a Muggle."

Josh's eyes widened in horror, and he looked at Harry who was looking back at Josh with a puzzled look. "How you were going to torture that muggle and kill him once you were finished," Voldemort continued. "I know about your boggart, and how it's supposed to be a reflection of your dark side. I know how at the World Cup, you enjoyed watching those muggles suffer, and you wanted to help my death eaters humiliate them." Josh shook his head. "I know all about your dark thoughts, your powerful mind, and I know all about the duel you had with your own cousin, Cyrus, and how you used the Cruciatus Curse."

Josh's eyes shot up to Voldemort's red ones. Voldemort smiled evilly. "You see, young Black," he said, his expression rapt and exultant. "We are the same, both of us, Heirs of Slytherin, both very powerful, Parselmouths, hatred of muggles – Come, young Joshua," Voldemort said, smiling and holding out his left skeletal hand once more. "Join my conquest and rule by my side."

Josh slowly lifted up his left hand as his mind began to think. Should he do this? If he did, he could become very powerful, and his confrontations with John and Cyrus. He really wanted them to suffer so badly. He wanted to torture them into insanity for what they did, for what they tried to do; and those muggles at the World Cup, he just didn't care about them at all, but did he really hate all muggles? As his mind wonders, he feels like he does. And all the anger he had suffered from his mother's arrest and lies to becoming the unwanted fourth champion. And what should it matter? If he were to go back, people would shun him. They all know he's a Black, a relative of a dark family, Heir of Slytherin, and relation to the one and only, Lord Voldemort. They would think he was dark and would be just like both Slytherin and Voldemort, and they would be afraid of him. Josh looked right into Lord Voldemort's red eyes and thought, _Alright, fine, why don't I give them something to be afraid of. _

And grabbed his wand, and reached up with his wounded hand and grabbed onto Voldemort's hand. Voldemort helped Josh up to his feet, and Josh's eyes slowly flickered from gray to red, but then, a voice inside his mind spoke. It wasn't his voice, but a loving girl's.

_Joshua, you aren't dark. I've seen you accomplish great and amazing things here at Hogwarts; humble and noble things. You helped save the school twice, and you saved your own father. You have both light and darkness inside you, we all do, but I think it's the light inside you that overcomes all darkness you think you have. You are a great Wizard, the best I've ever known, and you have friends who love you, a family who loves you. Josh, you aren't going dark, I know you aren't and you never will, because I will never let that happen…_

Voldemort stared at Josh, his evil smile slowly fading as Josh came back into reality and his eyes returned to normal. Josh looked up at Voldemort. "No," he said hoarsely. "Never." And then pointed his wand. "_Solis Excandescunt_!" he shouted, and a solar flare erupted from Josh's wand and flew into Voldemort's face, blinding him. Voldemort shouted out, covering his eyes as he was blinded.

"Master!" Silus shouted, and then ran forward, but Josh was ready.

"_Everte Statum!" _He shouted, his spell soaring and knocking Silus off his feet. Josh heard a hiss and turned to see the snake making his way towards him. It jumped at him, but Josh quickly jumped out of the way towards Harry and pointed his wand. He was about to shout a spell when he suddenly felt a familiar horrible pain. Josh screamed and dropped to the ground as a thousand white hot knives invisibly pierced every inch of his body.

A whole minute later, or what felt like an hour to Josh, the curse was released. Josh's eyes opened as he rolled over and in blurry vision, he saw Lord Voldemort standing near him, sneering evilly at him, pointing his wand at Josh. "How dare you refuse me?" Voldemort said as Silus stood to his feet. "No one refuses the Dark Lord! Silus, bring in the Grandfather!"

Josh moved his eyes over to a blurry Silus who moved towards a long grave and pulled a heap of something from behind it; Josh noticed that it was a person, a man. "Come on, father," Silus said nastily, pushing is father down to Voldemort's feet. Silus's father, Josh's grandfather lay there in front of Voldemort, slowly moving.

"Grandpa," Josh breathed out, his vision returning to normal, and really looked at his grandfather who was covered in cuts and bruises, his clothes torn. "Your own father," Josh said to Silus who smirked.

"I'd do anything for my master," Silus said. "Even bringing down and torturing my own father, killing my mother, sending my younger sister to Azkaban, and putting the Aurors on my only nephew."

"You're mad," Josh said. Silus merely smiled. Josh looked at his grandfather who was struggling to his feet.

Voldemort then turned back to Josh. "Now, Black, you will join me one way or another," he said. "If you do not join me, I will kill your only grandfather." Josh stared at Voldemort.

"Don't," Malcom finally spoke. "Don't do it, Joshua." Josh shook his head, tears coming to his eyes. "You've already done so well. Stay where you are, help Harry win this war. I know you can. Promise me you can! Promise me you'll never join his ranks."

"Grandpa," Josh said.

"Promise me!" Malcom yelled, falling to his knees.

Josh nodded as tears streamed down his cheeks. "I promise," he said. Voldemort sneered and raised his wand.

Malcom nodded and gave a tired smile. "Good. I love –"

"_Avada Kedavra_!" Voldemort shouted; the curse exploded from his wand and soared into the grandfather's back.

"No!" Josh cried as his grandfather was thrown to the ground, motionless and dead.

Voldemort smiled as Malcolm's body lay motionless a couple a feet away. Silus went on and began to dispose of his father's body. Voldemort glanced at Josh, at Wormtail, who was next to Harry's feet, crumpled up and crying. Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh. Wormtail's robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them.

"My Lord…" he choked, "my Lord…you promised…you did promise…"

"Hold out your arm," said Voldemort lazily.

"Oh Master… thank you, Master…"

He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again.

"The other arm, Wormtail."

"Master, please… please…"

Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail's left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail's robes up past his elbow, and Josh saw something upon the skin there, the familiar red tattoo his uncle owned - a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth - the image that had appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark. Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtail's uncontrollable weeping.

"It is back," he said softly, "they will all have noticed it… and now, we shall see… now we shall know…"

He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail's arm.

Josh looked up at Harry, who began groaning in pain, and Wormtail let out a fresh howl; Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail's mark, and Josh saw that it had turned jet black.

A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard. "How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"

He began to pace up and down before Josh, Harry, Silus, and Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. After a minute or so, he looked down at Harry again, a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face.

"You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool…very like your dear mother. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you…and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death…"

Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and the snake continued to circle in the grass. "You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was…He didn't like magic, my father…

"He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born, Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage… but I vowed to find him…I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name…Tom Riddle…"

Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave. "Listen to me, reliving family history…" he said quietly, "why, I am growing quite sentimental…But look, Harry! My true family returns…"

The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward…slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. Josh watched as one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes.

"Master…Master," he murmured.

The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle's grave, Harry, Josh, Voldemort, and the sobbing and twitching heap that was Wormtail. Yet they left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more people. Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had shivered.

"Welcome, Death Eaters," said Voldemort quietly. "Thirteen years…thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?"

He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening. "I smell guilt," he said. "There is a stench or guilt upon the air."

A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, but did not dare to step back from him.

"I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact - such prompt appearances! And I ask myself…why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?"

No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding arm.

"And I answer myself," whispered Voldemort, "they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment…

"And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any living wizard,

"And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort…perhaps they now pay allegiance to another…perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?"

At the mention of Dumbledore's name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them.

"It is a disappointment to me…I confess myself disappointed…"

One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort's feet.

"Master!" he shrieked, "Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!"

Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand. "_Crucio_!"

The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked; Josh watched, knowing the feel of the torture curse, which he felt a tiny sting in his body as if the curse hit him.

Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping.

"Get up, Avery," said Voldemort softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years… I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?"

He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob.

"You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, Master," moaned Wormtail, "please. Master… please…"

"Yet you helped return me to my body," said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. "Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me… and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers…"

Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air. A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the wand's wake. Momentarily shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtail's bleeding wrist.

Wormtail's sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder.

"My Lord," he whispered. "Master… it is beautiful… thank you… thank you…" He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail," said Voldemort.

"No, my Lord… never, my Lord…" Wormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, staring at his powerful new hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtail's right.

"Lucius, my slippery friend," he whispered, halting before him. "I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius…Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay…but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?"

"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," came Lucius Malfoy's voice swiftly from beneath the hood. "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me -"

"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?" said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking abruptly. "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius…You have disappointed me… I expect more faithful service in the future."

"Of course, my Lord, of course…You are merciful, thank you…"

Voldemort moved on, and stopped, staring at the space - large enough for two people - that separated Malfoy and the next man.

"The Lestranges should stand here," said Voldemort quietly. "But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me…When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. The dementors will join us…they are our natural allies…we will recall the banished giants…I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear…"

He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in silence, but he paused before others and spoke to them.

"Macnair…destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide…"

"Thank you, Master…thank you," murmured Macnair.

"And here" - Voldemort moved on to the two largest hooded figures - "we have Crabbe… you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, Goyle?"

They bowed clumsily, muttering dully.

"Yes, Master…"

"We will, Master…"

"The same goes for you, Nott," said Voldemort quietly as he walked past a stooped figure in Mr. Goyle's shadow.

"My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful -"

"That will do," said Voldemort.

He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there.

"And here we have six missing Death Eaters…three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return…he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever…he will be killed, of course…and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already re-entered my service."

The Death Eaters stirred, and Josh saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks.

"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friends arrived here tonight…

"Yes," said Voldemort, a grin curling his lipless mouth as the eyes of the circle flashed in Harry's and Josh's direction. "Not only has Harry Potter kindly joined us for my rebirthing party, but young Joshua Black as well. One might go so far as to call them my guests of honor."

There was a silence. Then the Death Eater to the right of Wormtail stepped forward, and Lucius Malfoy's voice spoke from under the mask.

"Master, we crave to know…we beg you to tell us…how you have achieved this…this miracle… how you managed to return to us…"

"Ah, what a story it is, Lucius," said Voldemort. "And it begins - and ends – with my young friends here."

He walked lazily over to stand next to Harry, so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon the two of them. The snake continued to circle.

"You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Harry, whose scar began to burn so fiercely that he almost screamed in agony. "You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill them. Their mother died in the attempt to save them – and unwittingly provided them with a protection I admit I had not foreseen…I could not touch the boy."

Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Harry's cheek.

"Their mother left upon him the traces other sacrifice…This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it…but no matter. I can touch him now."

Josh watched as Voldemort touched Harry who began to scream out in pain.

Voldemort laughed softly in his ear, then took the finger away and continued addressing the Death Eaters.

"I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah…pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost…but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know…I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal - to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked… for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself… for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand…

"I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist… I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited…Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me…one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body…but I waited in vain…"

The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing.

"Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals - snakes, of course, being my preference - but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic…and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long…

"Then…four years ago…the means for my return seemed assured. A wizard - young, foolish, and gullible - wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of…for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school…he was easy to bend to my will…he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Philosopher's Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted…thwarted, once again, by Harry Potter and his friends…"

Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Harry and Josh.

"The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been," Voldemort continued. "I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers…Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour…I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess… and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me…"

One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice.

"And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last…a servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends, and decided to return to his master. He sought me in the country where it had long been rumored I was hiding…helped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. Wormtail has a curious affinity with rats, do you not, Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him there was a place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them…

"But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some food… and who should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry of Magic.

"Now see the way that fate favors Lord Voldemort. This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail - displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him – convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her… he brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams… for - with a little persuasion - she became a veritable mine of information.

"She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him. She told me many things… but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her."

Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless.

"Wormtail's body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth…a spell or two of my own invention…a little help from my dear Nagini," Voldemort's red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake, "a potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided…I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel.

"There was no hope of stealing the Philosopher's Stone anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower…I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength and a bit more," he said, glancing at Josh.

"I knew that to achieve this - it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight - I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant…

"My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe…Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me…as so many of them still do. But I knew the two I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potter's blood. I wanted the blood of the ones who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago…for the lingering protection their mother once gave them would then reside in my veins too… But that wasn't it.

"I decided to add another ingredient as I began to hear about a second Heir of Slytherin, another boy who could speak to snakes, and with a very stronger magical core. I learned this from another faithful servant, one Wormtail had contacted; Silus Emrys. Of course, he was curious when he heard from his father about his nephew who was a Parselmouth, and did a little research with I was happy to hear about. There was another line down from Slytherin, and who should come out the strongest of the line but Joshua Black; true Heir of Slytherin, unlike myself. He was the key to make me even more powerful, so I added his flesh, blood, and magic to my dark ancient potion.

"But how to get at Harry Potter and Joshua Black? For they have been better protected than I think even they know, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boy's future. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the Potter's protection as long as he was in his relations' care. Not even I can touch them there…Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup…I thought their protection might be weaker there, away from their relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt kidnap in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the boys would return to Hogwarts, where they are under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take them?

"Why…by using Bertha Jorkins's information, of course. Use of my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the one of the boy's name was entered into the Goblet of Fire, not only to get him here, but to test his powers. Use my Death Eater to ensure that Black, who was smarter Potter was more likely to succeed, won the tournament - that he touched the Triwizard Cup first - the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore's help and protection, and into my waiting arms. I also had my second faithful death eater, unbeknownst to Dumbledore, would be invited to the Tournament since he is Black's family. He and his son would overpower Potter and bring him here, by portkey. And here they are…the boy you all believed had been my downfall…and the other who all but made me more powerful..."

Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Harry. He raised his wand.

"_Crucio_!"

Josh winced as Harry screamed out in pain, and then he stopped as the curse was lifted. He watched as Harry hung limply, as the night rang with the sound of the Death Eaters' laughter.

"You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me," said Voldemort. "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing them, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help them, and no mother to die for them. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching.

"Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand."

**A/N: There it is. He refused because someone told him the real truth. Someone who cares deeply for Josh. Anyways, sorry about the Voldemort speech thing word for word, but I in no way own HP, JK Rowling does. He does talk too much doesn't he. Really. Anyways, next chapter, Harry and Voldemort fight, maybe Josh'll fight off death eaters or something too. So, got like 4 chaps left. Hope you enjoyed. Read and Review, it is encouraged. Oh and let me know about any kind of mistakes I made, I will try to fix them ASAP. **


	31. Getting Back

Chapter 31: Getting Back

Josh watched as Wormtail approached Harry, who scrambled to find his feet, to support his own weight before the ropes were untied. Wormtail raised his new silver hand, and with one swipe, cut through the bonds tying Harry to the gravestone.

As Josh looked around, he thought about just dragging Harry away and make a run for it, but there were too many Death Eaters around in the circle.

Wormtail walked out of the circle to the place where Cedric's body lay and returned with Harry's wand, which he thrust roughly into Harry's hand without looking at him. Then Wormtail resumed his place in the circle of watching Death Eaters.

"You have been taught how to duel Harry Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness.

_Of course, only in Second year, but we barely learned anything, _Josh thought, struggling to sit up against the marble tombstone. They had only learned the disarming spell, but it wouldn't do well enough for all wizards, but what about all those hexes and curses they learned before the task? If not then Harry was quite unprotected…

"We bow to each other, Harry," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed…Dumbledore would like you to show manners…Bow to death, Harry…"

The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemort's lipless mouth was smiling. Josh watched as Harry did not bow.

"I said, bow," Voldemort said, raising his wand - and Josh watched as Harry was forced to bow, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever. Josh looked over to his wand the lie a few feet away, racking his brain for anything he knew that could help get him and Harry away from this place; if there as a way to attack all death eaters at once.

"Very good," said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand the pressure bearing down upon Harry lifted too. "And now you face me, like a man…straight-backed and proud, the way your father died…

"And now - we duel."

Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do anything to defend himself, before he could even move, he had been hit again by the Cruciatus Curse. Josh winced at Harry screamed out in pain, and turned to see his friend withering on the ground in pain.

And then He stopped.

"What about now, Joshua? Join me and maybe I'll let Harry Potter live," Voldemort said, looking over at Josh. Josh looked over at Harry who shook his head.

Josh looked at Voldemort and shook his head. "Never," he breathed out.

"Very well," Voldemort spoke, and then turned back to Harry who had stood back to his feet and pointed his wand at his enemy.

"_Stupefy_!" he shouted.

Voldemort batted it aside and said "_Crucio_!"

Harry collapsed to the ground once more in an intense amount of pain, screaming out; And Voldemort then released the curse.

"A little break," said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement, "a little pause…That hurt, didn't it, Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you? Do you want to feel that again?"

Harry didn't answer. Harry looked over at Josh who looked back, and for a second Josh felt Harry's thoughts. He felt Harry was going to die, they both were going to die, like Cedric; and there was nothing they could do about it. But Harry wasn't going to obey Voldemort, he wasn't going to beg.

"I asked you whether you want me to do that again," said Voldemort softly. "Answer me! _Imperio_!"

Josh watched as Harry's eyes glazed over, but then his eyes closed and his mind scrunched a little, and he shouted…

"I WON'T!"

Harry's voice they echoed through the graveyard and the dream state was lifted.

"You won't?" said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now. "You won't say no? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die…Perhaps another little dose of pain?"

Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Harry was ready; with the reflexes born of his Quidditch training, he flung himself sideways onto the ground; he rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort's father; a loud crack as the curse missed him by inched.

"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry," said Voldemort's soft, cold voice, drawing nearer, as the Death Eaters laughed. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry…come out and play, then…it will be quick…it might even be painless…I would not know… I have never died…"

Josh sat there in front of the grave, where he couldn't see Harry, but he could hear him breathing. _Come on Harry; don't chicken out now_, Josh thought.

Before Voldemort could stick his snakelike face around the headstone, Harry stood up, gripping his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of him, and threw himself around the headstone, facing Voldemort.

Voldemort was ready. As Harry simultaneously shouted, "_Expelliarmus_!" Voldemort cried, "_Avada_ _Kedavra_!"

Josh watched as A jet of green light issued from Voldemort's wand just as jets of red light blasted from Harry's - they met in midair - and a narrow beam of light connected both wands, neither red nor green, but bright, deep gold.

Josh, following the beam with their astonished gazes, saw that Voldemort's long white fingers were gripping a wand that was shaking and vibrating.

And then - nothing could have prepared either Harry or Josh for this – but Josh looked on as Harry lifted from the ground. He and Voldemort were being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemort's father and then came to rest on a patch of ground that was clear and free of graves…The Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, reforming the circle around Harry and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands –

Josh sat there, with no one watching him, forgotten by the death eaters. Looking around, Josh cautiously grabbed his wand and pulled himself up towards Cedric. He looked over at the golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over the two, crisscrossing around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now…

"Do nothing!" Josh heard Voldemort shriek to the Death Eaters. "Do nothing unless I command you!" He shouted to the Death Eaters.

And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air… It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Harry and Voldemort. It was a sound Josh recognized, though he had heard it only once before in his life: phoenix song.

It was the sound of hope to him…the most beautiful and welcome thing he had ever heard in his life. He felt as though the song were inside him instead of just around them…It was the sound he connected with Sirius, and it was almost as though he were speaking in his ear…

_Don't give up just yet, Joshua. Help Harry, come back to us!_

_I will, _Josh told the music, _I have to do this, not just for Harry but for my friends. _

Josh took his wand and pointed it at himself. "Just a little boost of energy," he said. "_Damihi Fortitudo_!" And in an instant, Josh's energy was replenished, and he felt like he could do whatever he needed to do.

Josh stood up, glancing at the portkey, then at Harry and Voldemort. They were holding onto their wands as if their life depended on it, which it did, at least for Harry. Even though, Josh had to figure out a way to get Harry out of there. Josh gripped his wand tightly and began making his way towards the death eaters, curses racking through his mind.

Josh stopped by the closest, or last, tombstone, where At once, Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain…then - Voldemort's red eyes widened with shock - a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanished…the ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail…more shouts of pain… and then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemort's wand tip, a great, greyish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke…It was a head…now a chest and arms…the torso of Josh's Grandfather.

Cedric Diggory.

Josh nearly stumbled in shock. The ghost of his recently dead grandfather appeared out of Voldemort's wand.

"Hold on tight, Potter," Malcom spoke, but then another figure appeared from Voldemort's wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel…It was Cedric Diggory, and was as transparent as his grandfather; and this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.

"Hold on, Harry," it said.

Its voice was distant and echoing. Josh looked at Voldemort…his wide red eyes were still shocked…he had no more expected this than the twins had…and, very dimly, they heard the frightened yells of the Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the golden dome…More screams of pain from the wand…and then something else emerged from its tip…the dense shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms and torso…an old man Josh had never seen before, floating over to Malcom and Cedric…and his ghost, or his shadow, or whatever it was, fell next to Cedric's, and surveyed Harry and Voldemort, and the golden web, and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning on his walking stick…

"He was a real wizard, then?" Josh heard the old man said his eyes on Voldemort. "Killed me, that one did…You fight him, boy…"

But already, yet another head was emerging… and this head, grey as a smoky statue, was a woman's. Josh saw her drop to the ground and straighten up like the others, staring…The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle before her with wide eyes.

"Don't let go, now!" she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedric's as though from very far away. "Don't let him get you, Harry - don't let go!"

She and the other three shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, while the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it…and Voldemort's dead victims whispered as they circled the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to Harry, and hissed words they couldn't hear to Voldemort. And now another head was emerging from the tip of Voldemort's wand…and Josh wasn't sure who it could be, but then he saw them.

The smoky shadow of a tall man with untidy hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at Harry

"Your mother's coming…" Josh heard him said. "She wants to see you …it will be all right…hold on…"

Josh then noticed it was Harry's father, and she came…first her head, then her body…a young woman with long hair, the smoky, shadowy form of Lily Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand, fell to the ground, and straightened like her husband. She walked close to Harry, looking down at him, and she spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear…

All Josh heard was, "Do you understand, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on his wand.

And then Josh heard Cedric speak once more. "Harry…" whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents…Please…and tell Josh…tell him, I'm sorry."

"I will," said Harry, his faces screwed up with the effort of holding the wand. Josh gripped his and tightly, his magic building up inside him.

"NOW!" Josh heard Harry yell; He watched at Harry let go of the connection, pulling his wand upward with an almighty wrench, and the golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died - but the shadowy figures of Voldemort's victims did not disappear - they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry from his gaze –

"Harry!" Josh shouted, stepping out from the tombstone. Harry ran as fast as he could towards Josh, knocking two stunned Death Eaters aside as he passed, then ran up to Josh. "Close your eyes!" Josh ordered and waved his wand in a wide arc, "_Ligus!__" He shouted, creating a lard blinding light, blinding all the death eaters._

"Come on!" Harry shouted, and pulled on Josh's arms; they zigzagged behind headstones, feeling curses following them from the blinded death eaters, hearing them hit the headstones - they were dodging curses and graves, pelting toward Cedric's body.

"Stun them!" they heard Voldemort scream. "Don't let them get away!"

Ten feet from Cedric, Harry and Josh dived behind a marble angel to avoid the blinding jets of red light and saw the tip of its wing shatter as the spells hit it. Gripping their wands more tightly, they dashed out from behind the angel – and quickly as they could, they made their way towards Cedric's body.

"Stand aside! I will kill him! Harry is mine!" shrieked Voldemort. Josh's hand had closed on Cedric's wrist, Harry grabbing other wrist; one tombstone stood between them and Voldemort, still blinded, but Cedric was too heavy to carry, and the cup was out of their reach –

And then he wasn't blinded anymore, and Voldemort's red eyes flamed in the darkness. Harry and Josh saw his mouth curl into a smile, saw him raise his wand. Josh nodded towards Harry, who nodded back.

"_Accio_!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew into the air and soared toward them. Harry caught it by the handle –

They heard Voldemort's scream of fury at the same moment that they felt the jerk behind their navel that meant the Portkey had worked - it was speeding them away in a whirl of wind and color, and Cedric along with them…They were going back.

**A/N: A pretty short chapter, nothing special. Yeah, this chapter wasn't that great. I didn't think so, I tried. Anyways, let me know about any mistakes you come across. Read, Review, it is encouraged. A few chaps left. And then The Order of Phoenix. **


	32. Who Does He Have Now?

Chapter 32: Who Does He Have Now?

Josh felt himself slam flat into the ground; his face was pressed into grass; the smell of it filled his nostrils. He had closed his eyes while the Portkey transported him, and all the breath seemed to have been knocked out of him; his head was swimming so badly he felt as though the ground beneath him was swaying like the deck of a ship. All the pain in his body had returned and he was exhausted once more. He felt as though he would slide away into the blackness gathering at the edges of his brain from all the pain. Shock and exhaustion kept him on the ground, breathing in the smell of the grass, waiting…waiting for someone to do something…something to happen.

A torrent of sound deafened and confused him; there were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams…Josh remained where he was, his face screwed up against the noise, as though it were a nightmare that would pass; he wondered what Harry was feeling, if he was feeling the same. Then he heard a familiar voice.

"Harry! Harry!"

Josh opened his eyes, seeing the dark grass and struggled to get up as he heard more voices and dark shadows of a crowd of people pressed in around them, pushing nearer; Josh felt the ground beneath him head reverberating with their footsteps. Josh looked around. He had come back to the edge of the maze. He could see the stands rising above him, the shapes of people moving in them, the stars above. His eyes moved around the stands, connecting with the first familiar face he saw; Hermione's.

"He's back," Josh head Harry whisper. "He's back. Voldemort's back!"

"What's going on? What's happened?" The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared near Josh, Harry, and Cedric; it looked white, appalled.

"My God - Diggory!" Fudge whispered. "Dumbledore - he's dead!"

The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on them gasped it to those around them…and then others shouted it - screeched it - into the night –

"He's dead!"

"He's dead!"

"Cedric Diggory! Dead!"

"Harry, let go of him," Josh heard Fudge's voice say. Josh used all his strength and struggled to his feet, looking over at Harry who refused to let Harry go. Then Dumbledore's face came closer.

"Harry, you can't help him now. It's over. Let go."

"He wanted us to bring him back," Harry muttered. "He wanted me to bring him back to his parents…"

"That's right, Harry…just let go now…"

Dumbledore bent down, and with extraordinary strength for a man so old and thin, raised Harry from the ground and set him on his feet.

"What's happened?"

"What's wrong with him?"

"Diggory's dead!"

"Joshua, are you alright?" someone asked Josh, who stood to his feet. He need to get away, as he felt like he couldn't breathe, and all they cared about was Harry.

"He'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge was saying loudly. "He's ill, He's injured – Dumbledore, Diggory's parents, they're here, and they're in the stands…"

"I'll take Harry, Dumbledore, I'll take him -"

"No, I would prefer-"

"Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running…he's coming over…Don't you think you should tell him - before he sees -?"

But Josh didn't hear anymore as he weakly pushed through the crowd. He needed to get out and make his way towards Madam Pomfrey or the Hospital Wing or to somewhere else.

"Josh!" he heard many others yell and shout.

"Josh, are you alright?"

"Josh, what happened?"

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Joshua!"

Josh stopped, knowing that voice. He turned to see some his friends, Blaise, Daphne, Tracey, Neville, and Hermione. Josh walked up to the group who were all looking worried. He stopped in front of the group.

"Joshua, are you okay?" Hermione asked, walking up to him.

"Hermione," Josh breathed out, and then smiled. "I – "But he never finished as he collapsed to the ground. All the pain and exhaustion, he couldn't handle it anymore. He had used up too much magic and it finally took a turn on him. He fainted into the darkness, all the while hearing the screams and shouts of his name.

_It was raining hard, and the thunder and lightning went off over his head, their heads. Josh stared down at the man in front of him, gripping his and so tight, he felt like he might break it. _

"_It's your move, Black," the man in dark robes spoke. "Try and do your worst." But Josh didn't move. He wanted to say those to words, he really did, but what was stopping him. "Well, what are you waiting for, boy? Do it!" the man shouted. He stared at Josh and then laughed. "You can't do it, can you," he said. "I should have figure. You're only a boy, and even after I took everything that was dear to you and you still can't do your worst can you? I was led that you were such a dark boy, but I guess they were wrong. I guess the Dark Lord was wrong. Of course, look at him now. He's dead." _

_Josh raised his wand, pointing it at the man. _

_The man laughed. "Just give it up, Black," he said. "You can't do it, so let me just kill you. Kill you like I killed your mother and that girl you apparently loved. Let me tell you, she begged me to end it. She wanted to die, after all the torturing I gave to her. She was nothing! And you are nothing! I will kill you like I killed her! – _

_Avada Kedavra!_

Josh's eyes shot open. The room was still dimly lit; he was sure it was still night time and had a feeling that he couldn't have been out that long.

Then he heard whispering around him.

"They'll wake them if they don't shut up!"

"What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?"

Josh looked around seeing Harry nearby, but his head was turned, and he didn't know if he was awake to her still asleep. He continued to look around. He could see the dark outlines of Nymphadora, Mr. and Mrs. Tonks, and the familiar faces of Mrs. Weasley and Bill close by. Daphne, Ron, Blaise, and Hermione were also there. Mrs. Weasley was on her feet.

"That's Fudge's voice," she whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"

Now Josh could hear them too: people shouting and running toward the hospital wing.

"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva -" Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly.

"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" yelled Professor McGonagall. "When Dumbledore finds out -"

Josh heard the hospital doors burst open. Unnoticed by any of the people around their bed, all of whom were staring at the door; Josh quietly sat up. He noticed Harry did as well.

Fudge came striding up the ward. Professors McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.

"He's not here," said Mrs. Weasley angrily. "This is a hospital wing. Minister, don't you think you'd do better to -"

But the door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping up the ward.

"What has happened?" said Dumbledore sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you - I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch -"

"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"

Neither Harry nor Josh had ever seen Professor McGonagall lose control like this. There were angry blotches of color in her cheeks, and hands were balled into fists; she was trembling with fury -

"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," said Snape, in a low voice; he seemed to feel his safety was in question. "He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch -"

"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but -"

"My dear woman!" roared Fudge, who likewise looked angrier than either Harry or Josh had ever seen him, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous -"

But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned Fudge's.

"The moment that - that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and - and -"

Josh felt chills in his stomachs as Professor McGonagall struggled to find words to describe what had happened. He did not need her to finish her sentence. He knew what the dementor must have done. It had administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.

"By all accounts, he is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths'."

"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. He was staring hard at Fudge, as though seeing him plainly for the first time. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."

"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" blustered Fudge. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"

"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."

Fudge looked as though someone had just swung a heavy weight into his face. Dazed and blinking, he stared back at Dumbledore as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard. He began to sputter, still goggling at Dumbledore.

"You-Know-Who… returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore…"

"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," said Dumbledore, "we heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort - learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins - went to free him from his father and used him to capture Harry and Joshua. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."

"See here, Dumbledore," said Fudge, and Josh was astonished to see a slight smile dawning on his face, "you - you can't seriously believe that You-Know-Who - back? Come now, come now… certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders - but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore…"

"When young Joshua touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort," said Dumbledore steadily. "Harry was also transported there by means of another Portkey. They witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office."

Dumbledore glanced around at Harry and Josh and saw that they were awake, but shook his head and said, "I am afraid I cannot permit you to question them tonight."

Fudge's curious smile lingered. He too glanced at Harry and Josh, then looked back at Dumbledore, and said, "You are - er - prepared to take Harry's and Josh's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"

Josh's eyebrow rose. He had passed out back at the Maze. This was all interesting to him, and he wasn't very sure what was going on.

There was a moment's silence, which was broken by a dog growling. Josh looked over by Harry's bed and saw a very familiar black dog. His hackles were raised, and he was baring his teeth at Fudge.

"Certainly, I believe Harry," said Dumbledore. His eyes were blazing now. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard their account of what happened after Josh touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."

Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once again, he glanced at Harry and Josh before answering.

"You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who… well…is friend with another boy…who's…you know…"

Fudge shot Josh and Harry another look, and Josh suddenly understood.

"You believe everything that hag Rita Skeeter writes, don't you Mr. Fudge," Josh said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ron, Hermione, Daphne, Blaise, the Tonks, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill all jumped. None of them had realized that Josh or Harry were awake.

Fudge reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look came over his face.

"And if I do?" he said, looking at Dumbledore. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about these boys very quiet? Parselmouths, eh? Heirs of Slytherin? And having funny turns all over the place -"

"I assume that you are referring to the pains Harry have been experiencing in his scar?" said Dumbledore coolly.

"You admit that they have been having these pains, then?" said Fudge quickly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly - hallucinations?"

"Listen to me, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, taking a step toward Fudge, and once again, he seemed to radiate that indefinable sense of power that Josh had never felt on Dumbledore. "Harry and Josh are as sane as you or I. That scar upon Harry's forehead has not addled his brain. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."

Fudge had taken half a step back from Dumbledore, but he looked no less stubborn.

"You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of curse scars acting as an alarm bell before…"

"Look, we saw Voldemort come back!" Harry shouted. He tried to get out of bed, but Mrs. Weasley forced him back. "We saw the Death Eaters! We can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy -"

Snape made a sudden movement, but as Josh looked at him, Snape's eyes flew back to Fudge.

"Malfoy was cleared!" said Fudge, visibly affronted. "A very old family - donations to excellent causes -"

"Macnair!" Harry continued.

"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"

"Avery!" Harry said. "Nott! Crabbe! Goyle! Josh's Uncle Silus!"

"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" said Fudge angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heaven's sake, Dumbledore - this boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too - his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them - the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?"

"Are you really that daft?" Josh growled, and stood out of bed, nearly stumbling to the ground had it not been for Blaise who caught him. "Would we lie about something like this? You'd have to be the most stupid idiot to not believe them when it comes to Voldemort!" Josh lifted his left hand that was bandaged and took off the bandages, showing that his ring finger was missing. "My finger was cut off and used for Voldemort's purposes. I lost a finger, but not just a finger! I saw my own Grandfather get murdered in that graveyard!" Everyone looked at Josh in surprise. "I'm losing my family one by one because of Voldemort. I was there, and so was Harry. We saw Voldemort come back, and if you don't believe us, then you are such an arse and a…a…daft pigheaded, dung of a troll!"

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Fudge said, appalled. "As the Minister, I deserve the upmost respect -"

"You fool!" Professor McGonagall cried as Blaise helped Josh to the bed. "Cedric Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"

"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching her anger, his face was purpling. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"

Josh couldn't believe what they were hearing. He had always thought of Fudge as a kindly figure, a little blustering, a little pompous, but essentially good-natured; but now a short, angry wizard stood before him, refusing, point-blank, to accept the prospect of disruption in his comfortable and ordered world - to believe that Voldemort could have risen.

"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated. "If you accept that fact straight away Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors -"

"Preposterous!" shouted Fudge again. "Remove the dementors? I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!"

"The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!" said Dumbledore. "They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard-pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!"

Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though no words could express his outrage.

"The second step you must take - and at once," Dumbledore pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."

"Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?"

"Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," said Dumbledore, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"

"You - you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasped, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants - people hate them, Dumbledore - end of my career -"

"You are blinded," said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any - and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now- take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"

"Insane," whispered Fudge, still backing away. "Mad…"

And then there was silence. Madam Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of Harry's bed, her hands over her mouth. Mrs. Weasley was still standing over Harry, her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from rising and Blaise stood next to Josh who was back sitting on his bed. Bill, Ron, Hermione, Daphne, Mr. Tonks, Mrs. Tonks, and Nymphadora were all staring at Fudge.

"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I - I shall act as I see fit."

Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore were advancing upon him with a wand.

"Now, see here, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me -"

"The only one against whom I intend to work," said Dumbledore, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."

It seemed Fudge could think of no answer to this. He rocked backward and forward on his small feet for a moment and spun his bowler hat in his hands. Finally, he said, with a hint of a plea in his voice, "He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be…"

Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled; so did Blaise, Daphne, the Tonks, and Josh.

"There," said Snape harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year; Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."

Fudge stepped back from Snape too. He was shaking his head. He did not seem to have taken in a word Snape had said. He stared, apparently repelled by the ugly mark on Snape's arm, then looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."

He had almost reached the door when he paused. He turned around, strode back down the dormitory, and stopped at Josh's bed.

"Your winnings," he said shortly, taking a large bag of gold out of his pocket and dropping it onto Josh's bedside table. "One thousand Galleons to _you_. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances…"

He crammed his bowler hat onto his head and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to look at the group around Harry's and Josh's beds.

"There is work to be done," he said. "Molly, Andromeda…am I right in thinking that I can count on you and your husbands?"

"Yes, of course," Andromeda said, nodding. Ted gave a firm nod as well.

"Of course you can," said Mrs. Weasley. She was white to the lips, but she looked resolute. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."

"Then I need to send a message to Arthur," said Dumbledore. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."

"I'll go to Dad," said Bill, standing up. "I'll go now."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry -"

"Leave it to me," said Bill.

He clapped a hand on the Harry's shoulders, kissed his mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak, and strode quickly from the room.

"Minerva," said Dumbledore, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also - if she will consent to come – Madame Maxime."

Professor McGonagall nodded and left without a word.

"Poppy," Dumbledore said to Madam Pomfrey, "would you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."

"Very - very well," said Madam Pomfrey, looking startled, and she too left.

Dumbledore made sure that the door was closed, and that Madam Pomfrey's footsteps had died away, before he spoke again.

"And now," he said, "it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius…if you could resume your usual form."

The great black dog looked up at Dumbledore, then, in an instant, turned back into a man.

Mrs. Weasley screamed and leapt back from the beds. The Tonks were surprised to see him there in that room, but not as surprised as Mrs. Weasley.

"Sirius Black!" She shrieked, pointing at him.

"Mum, shut up!" Ron yelled.

Snape had not yelled or jumped backward, but the look on his face was one of mingled fury and horror. "Him!" he snarled, staring at Sirius, whose face showed equal dislike. "What is he doing here?"

"He is here at my invitation," said Dumbledore, looking between them, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."

Harry and Josh thought Dumbledore was asking for a near miracle. Sirius and Snape were eyeing each other with the utmost loathing.

"I will settle, in the short term," said Dumbledore, with a bite of impatience in his voice, "for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any us."

Very slowly - but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill - Sirius and Snape moved toward each other and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly.

"That will do to be going on with," said Dumbledore, stepping between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - the old crowd. Lie low at Remus's for a while; I will contact you there."

"But -" said Harry and Josh said at once.

They wanted Sirius to stay. They did not want to have to say goodbye again so quickly.

"You'll see me very soon, Harry and Joshua," said Sirius, turning to them. "I promise you. But we must do what we can, you understand, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah…of course we do."

"But…but dad," Josh said, standing up, his eyes brimming with tears. "You can't…."

Sirius grasped his son's shoulders. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I will be back, this time, I promise," he said, then nodded to Dumbledore, transformed again into the black dog, and ran the length of the room to the door, whose handle he turned with a paw. Then he was gone.

Josh stood there, staring at the spot where his father stood. How could he leave when Josh needed him the most? But then, he felt a pair of arms hug him. It was Daphne, and he hugged her back, surprised a few of the people around them.

"Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready… if you are prepared…"

"I am," said Snape. He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely.

"Then good luck," said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.

It was several minutes before he spoke.

"I must go downstairs," he said finally. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry, Joshua - take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."

Harry slumped back against his pillows as Dumbledore disappeared. Hermione, Ron, Daphne, Blaise, the Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley were all looking at them. None of them spoke for a very long time.

"You've got to take the rest of your potion, Harry, Josh," Mrs. Weasley said at last. Her hand nudged the sack of gold on Josh's bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while…think about what you're going to buy with your winnings, Joshua!"

"I don't want that gold," said Josh in an expressionless voice as he sat back down in his bed. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's. He deserved it more than I did," he finished in a whisper.

"It's not your fault, Josh," Daphne whispered to Josh who ignored her, but their heads turned when they heard sobbing. Harry had begun to cry. He couldn't hold it in anymore, so he let it out, finally.

Mrs. Weasley set the potion down on the bedside cabinet, bent down, and put her arms around Harry, like a lovingly mother. Josh watched them hug, feeling envious, wishing his mother could be here and hug him like that. Both of his parents, leaving him; his grandfather died, who did he have now? Silently, tears flowed down Josh's eyes. Once again, Daphne had put her arms around him. He had Daphne. She was all he had, for now.

There was a loud slamming noise, and Mrs. Weasley and Harry broke apart, as did Josh and Daphne. Hermione was standing by the window. She was holding something tight in her hand.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Your potion, you two," said Mrs. Weasley quickly, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.

Harry and Josh drank it in one gulp. The effect was instantaneous. Heavy, irresistible waves of dreamless sleep broke over them; they fell back onto their pillows and thought no more.

**A/n: There you go. Did you enjoy it? Yeah, I decided to have Josh skip all the other stuff. Maybe because I wanted to have one chapter left. Well, a little emotional there. Well, read, review, and tell me about my mistakes. Last Chapter will be up soon!**


	33. The Beginning

Chapter 33: The Beginning

When he looked back, even a month later, Josh found he had only scattered memories of the next few days. It was as though he had been through too much to take in any more. The recollections he did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Diggorys that took place the following morning.

They did not blame Josh for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked him and Harry for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears.

"He suffered very little then," she said, when Harry had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos…he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy."

When they got to their feet, she looked down at Harry and Josh and said, "You look after yourselves, now."

Josh seized the sack of gold on the bedside table. "You take this," he muttered to her. "It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it -"

But she backed away from him. "Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't…you keep it."

Harry and Josh returned to Gryffindor Tower the following evening. From what Hermione and Ron told them, Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Harry and Josh alone, that nobody ask them questions or badger them to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people, they noticed, were skirting them in the corridors, avoiding their eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as they passed. Harry and Josh guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous they were. Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died. Josh found they didn't care very much. They liked it best when they were with Ron and Hermione or Blaise and Daphne and they were talking about other things, or else letting them sit in silence while they played chess, other games, or just talk about other things. Josh felt as though all them had reached an understanding they didn't need to put into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Hogwarts - and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain. The only time they touched upon the subject was when Ron told Harry about a meeting Mrs. Weasley had had with Dumbledore before going home.

"She went to ask him if you could come straight to us this summer," he said. "But he wants you to go back to the Dursleys', at least at first."

"Why?" said Harry.

"She said Dumbledore's got his reasons," said Ron, shaking his head darkly. "I suppose we've got to trust him, haven't we?"

"What about you, Josh?" Hermione asked. "Where are you going to stay?"

Josh shrugged. "I don't know," he answered. "I haven't the faintest clue."

The only person apart from their friends that Josh felt able to talk to was Salazar Slytherin himself. As there was no longer a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, they had those lessons free. Josh used the one on Thursday afternoon to go down and visit the Slytherin's chamber. He'd usually go down by himself as Slytherin was the only person he could talk about what really happened when he nearly Joined Voldemort's cause.

"Why would you want to alliance yourself with a dark wizard?" Salazar asked Josh who was sitting on the stone floor against the wall.

"I don't know," Josh said, looking at the floor. "When it happened, all I thought about was how people already hate me, think I'm bad, or that they're afraid of me. I was thinking that since they think that why don't I give them a reason to think those things."

"You can't base your decisions on what others think," Salazar replied.

"Says the guy who hates muggle-borns," Josh muttered.

"Just listen to me," Salazar said. "Who cares about what people think you are. It's the people who love you; their opinions are the ones that count. I know that now, and I've made my mistakes. But what made you turn down this Voldemort?"

"It was something a girl told me a long time ago," Josh answered. "When I remembered what she said, she made me realize that I couldn't turn back on my friends. She made me realize that I'm not a dark wizard, but a good one; a noble one." As Josh remembered what she had told him that day they had a turning conversation, he couldn't help but give a small smile.

"There's the smile I've been looking for," Salazar said. "Whoever said this was right. I've seen you down here many times, and you are not a dark wizard. From the stories you've told me, you do seem like a noble wizard. You've done great things, heroic things, way better than I ever done in my life. You are, Joshua, a brilliant wizard, and you will grow up to do great things; great things."

It was with a heavy heart that Josh packed his trunk up in the dormitories on the night before his return to somewhere or nowhere. He was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration, when the winner of the Inter-House Championship would be announced, but he had avoided being in the Great Hall when it was full ever since he had left the hospital wing, preferring to eat when it was nearly empty to avoid the stares of their fellow students.

When Josh entered the Hall, he saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colors for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. Josh knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Cedric.

The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. Josh couldn't blame him; Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk, to what Harry had told him. Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty. Josh wondered, as he sat down with the other Gryffindors, where Karkaroff was now, and whether Voldemort had caught up with him.

Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together. Further along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, was Snape. His eyes lingered on Josh for a moment as Josh looked at him. His expression was difficult to read. He didn't look as sour and unpleasant as usual, yet he looked like he pitied someone. Snape continued to watch him, long after Josh had looked away.

What was it that Snape had done on Dumbledore's orders, the night that Voldemort had returned? Had he gone to make contact with the Death Eaters? Pretended that he had never really gone over to Dumbledore's side, that he had been, like Voldemort himself, biding his time

Josh's musings were ended by Professor Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very quiet.

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year." He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.

"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," Said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

Josh caught a glimpse of Cho through the crowd. There were tears pouring silently down her face. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

Josh raised his head and stared at Dumbledore.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."

Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now…or almost every face.

"There are two others who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter and Joshua Black."

A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in the two Gryffindor's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore.

"Harry and Joshua both managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "They risked their own lives to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. They showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor them."

Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and Josh and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured their names, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to them. But through a gap in the standing figures, Josh saw that Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and half of the other Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched. Josh was surprised to see at least half of the Slytherin table supported him and Harry. Dumbledore, who after all possessed no magical eye, did not see them.

When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened - of Lord Voldemort's return - such ties are more important than ever before."

Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum, Josh noticed, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.

"It is my belief - and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

Josh's trunk was packed; Shadow was back in his cage on top of the trunk.

Josh, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were waiting in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the fourth years for the carriages that would take them back to Hogsmeade station. It was another beautiful summer's day. Josh stood there wondering if he should just go back to his grandfather's house, to his now house-elf, Tibby.

"Joshua!"

Josh looked around. Fleur Delacour was hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Beyond her, far across the grounds He could see Hagrid helping Madame Maxime to back two of the giant horses into their harness. The Beauxbatons carriage was about to take off.

"We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope," said Fleur as she reached him, holding out her hand. "I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish."

"It's very good already," said Ron in a strangled sort of voice. Fleur smiled at him; Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Good-bye, Joshua," said Fleur, turning to go. "It 'az been a pleasure meeting you! An' you too, 'Arry."

Josh smiled a little as he watched Fleur hurry back across the lawns to Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the sunlight.

"Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," said Ron. "D' you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"

"Karkaroff did not steer," said a gruff voice. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork."

Krum had come to say good-bye to Hermione. "Could I have a vord?" he asked Hermione. Josh raised an eyebrow.

"Oh…yes…all right," she said, looking slightly flustered, and following Krum through the crowd and out of sight.

"You'd better hurry up!" Ron called loudly after her. "The carriages'll be here in a minute!"

Harry, Ron, and Josh kept a watch for the carriages, however, and spent the next few minutes craning their necks over the crowd to try and see what Krum and Hermione might be up to. They returned quite soon. Josh looked at Hermione, but her face was quite impassive.

"I liked Diggory," said Krum abruptly to Harry and Josh. "He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang - with Karkaroff," he added, scowling.

"Have you got a new headmaster yet?" said Harry

Krum shrugged. He held out his hand as Fleur had done, shook Harry's and Josh's hands, and then Ron's. Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort of painful internal struggle. Krum had already started walking away when Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"

The horseless carriages were now trundling toward them up the drive, and Krum, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron.

The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to King's Cross than it had been on their way to Hogwarts the previous September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had managed to get a compartment to themselves. Josh however let the trio to find Daphne, his girlfriend, now that it wasn't much of a secret anymore when Daphne kissed him one day in front of everyone who mattered. He found his Slytherin friends in a compartment a couple down from his Gryffindor friends.

Daphne, Blaise, Tracey, and Draco talked more fully and freely than they had all week as the train sped them southward, while Josh sat there in silence. He felt as though Dumbledore's speech at the Leaving Feast had unblocked him, somehow. It was less painful to discuss what had happened now. They broke off their conversation about what action Dumbledore might be taking, even now, to stop Voldemort only when the lunch trolley arrived.

Josh was sitting by the door, eating a licorice wand when he heard something sounding like an explosion of a box of fireworks and bangs within a compartment. Josh, and more than a few others, exited their compartments to investigate.

Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway of Harry's compartment. Fred and George were also there standing next to the Slytherins. Josh walked over to check on his Gryffindor friends.

"Hey," he said, seeing Ron, Harry, and Hermione. "Is everything alright?"

"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Nott as he followed Fred inside.

"Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"

"Me," said Harry.

"Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor."

Ron, Harry, Josh and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle - each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit - out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut. After Josh helped out, he went back to his compartment but not before taking one last glance at Fred and George, an idea sprouting in his mind.

Josh entered his compartment and sat down next to Daphne. "What was that all about?" She asked.

"Just Nott and his cronies trying to get a rise out of Harry," Josh answered. "But it looks like Harry wasn't in the mood for it so he shut them up. Fred and George helped out."

"So, Josh we were talking when you were gone," Tracey started, a bit nervously. Josh looked at his friends. "And we were thinking that you probably shouldn't be alone this summer."

"And?" Josh said.

"Maybe it'd be best if you should stay with one of us, with the exception of Draco, cause of his father, and you know," Tracey explained. "Maybe with Blaise or Daphne."

Josh shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Since me and Daphne are a couple, I don't want her parents following me around like I'm going to do something stupid. No offense to you guys, but I wouldn't be any fun to hang out this summer considering what happened." Josh looked down at his healed hand, but his was still missing a finger. He didn't want to regrow it, he wanted it to be gone to leave it as a reminder of what happened or what he helped do. "Look, I know you guys all mean well, but I'm just going to go to my grandpa's house, well, my house now, and live with Tibby, for now. I think I'd like to be alone for a little bit over the summer."

The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough and all too soon, the Hogwarts Express was pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Josh quickly struggled out of his compartment, looking for a couple of red-headed twins.

"Fred - George - wait a moment."

The Weasley twins turned around looking at Josh questioningly. Josh then pulled the twins into his empty compartment. He pulled open his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings.

"Take it," He said, and thrust the sack into George's hands.

"What?" said Fred, looking flabbergasted.

"Take it," Josh repeated. "I don't want it."

"You're mental," said George, trying to push it back at Josh.

"No, I'm not," said Josh. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."

"He is mental," Fred said in an almost awed voice.

"Look, if you don't take it, I'm throwing it outside and let the people fight for it," Josh said. "I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs, especially after what happened. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."

"Josh, mate," said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."

"Yeah," said Josh. "Think how many Canary Creams that is." The twins stared at him. "Just don't tell your mum where you got it…although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it…"

"Josh," Fred began.

"Look," Josh said flatly, "Just take it, or I'll hex you. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and tell him they're from you."

Josh grabbed his trunk and owl, and left the compartment before the twins could say another word, stepping over Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex marks.

Josh met his Slytherin friends first. He said goodbye to Tracey first, and hugged her goodbye. Next he went to Blaise.

"Mate," Josh said with a small smile, shaking his hand. "If I feel better, we'll get together and cause some trouble."

"Even with the Aurors on your tail," Blaise said, smirking.

"Adds more to the fun," Josh said.

Blaise laughed. "Alright, see ya, Black," he said, punching Josh's arm then left.

Josh turned to Daphne. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" she asked. Josh nodded and hugged his girlfriend.

"I'll be fine Greengrass," Josh replied. "I promise I won't do anything too stupid."

Daphne laughed. "About you just don't do anything stupid at all," she said, pulling back.

Josh smiled. "No promises," he said, and then kissed her goodbye. "I'll write you." Daphne nodded and the two went their separate ways. Josh walked over to Harry and the others.

Once Mrs. Weasley was close by, she hugged him very tightly, and then let go, smiling at him.

"See you, you then," said Ron, clapping the Josh on the back. Josh nodded.

Josh turned to Harry who looked a little bummed out. "Don't worry," Josh said. "Before you know it, we'll all be back together." Harry nodded.

"Hope so," he said. "Well, see ya later."

"Yeah, bye," Josh replied and turned to face the Weasley twins. "Fred, George."

"Josh," George said, "Er, thanks." He muttered, while Fred nodded fervently. Josh smiled and nodded back. Josh turned and ran into Hermione. "Oh, Hermione, I'm sorry!"

"No, it's okay," Hermione said, smiling. Josh smiled back and the two hugged, longer than expected. "You'll be okay, won't you?" Hermione asked when the two pulled apart.

Josh gave a reassuring smile. "Yeah, Hermione, I'll be fine, promise" he said.

"Good," Hermione said, and leaned in, and kissed Josh on the cheek. "Have a good summer then." Josh nodded. "And don't forget to write me!"

Josh nodded again and then Hermione was gone. Josh sighed. He turned and began walking towards the barrier when he noticed a familiar face leaning against a column. It was Nymphadora. She stood up straight, smiling as Josh walked up to her.

"Nymphadora, what are you doing here?" Josh asked.

"Josh, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Tonks," Dora said, grabbing onto the Owl cage.

"I don't like calling you that name," Josh said flatly, and the two began walking.

"And I don't like being called Nymphadora," Dora replied flatly.

"I'm sure there is a compromise here somewhere," Josh said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you home," Dora said. "To my home, well, your home now."

"What?" Josh said, looking up at the older woman.

"Well, seeing as you have no other family to live with," Dora started. "We'd thought that you'd like to come live with us, after all we are family. And I won't take no for an answer."

"No," Josh said immediately.

"What?" Dora said, flabbergasted. "What do you mean no?"

"What else could no possibly mean other than no?" Josh asked.

"What?" Dora said, confused. "Look, it doesn't even matter. Since you're still underage, you still have to live with adults."

"Says who?" Josh said, a little annoyed.

"Says this," Dora said, thrusting a paper in front of Josh's face. "I have been appointed to be your new guardian! So, law says you have to live with me!"

"Great," Josh said with a sigh._ So much for being alone,_ He thought.

"Oh come on, Josh," Dora said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I'm not that bad. I'm fun, and we're going to have fun. Think of me as your big sister. This summer is going to be great." Josh rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless, and as they were getting closer to the barrier, something else caught Josh's eyes. It was Draco and His father. Mr. Malfoy seemed to be scolding Draco who was staring at the ground, with his fist clenched.

"Hold on," Josh said, giving Dora his trunk, and then walked over towards Draco and his father.

"- You insolent little brat," Mr. Malfoy hissed.

"Funny seeing you here, Malfoy," Josh spoke, stopping in front of the two Malfoys. "Been a while hasn't it? Last time we saw one another was, if I recall, weeks ago, in a dark graveyard – "

"Shut it, boy!" Mr. Malfoy hissed. "Speak again and I will silence you forcibly." Josh glared at the older Malfoy who moved over to Josh and whispered in his ear. "You're lucky you got out alive. Next time, you better hope the Dark Lord will be just as lenient to you when you try and turn down his gracious offers a second time." He then stood up straight. "Come along, Draco!" And began moving, but Draco stayed right where he was, staring at Josh. Josh smiled back. "I said come along, Draco!" Mr. Malfoy repeated.

Draco shook his head. "No," he said quietly.

"What did you say?" Mr. Malfoy said, returning to his son.

"I said no," Draco said a little louder, looking at his father. "No, I'm not going with you, not anymore."

"You insolent little brat," Malfoy hissed. "This is your doing!" He said, pointing at Josh. "You turned my own son against me!" And then Malfoy was about to pull out his wand.

"I don't think so, Mr. Malfoy," Dora said, holding up an Auror's badge. "I suggest you go home."

Malfoy turned and glared at both Draco and Josh. "This isn't over, boy," he said to Josh, and turned and left. The three watched him leave.

Dora placed her arms around Draco and Josh's shoulders. "Come on boys, let's go home!" she said.

"Good idea," Josh said, watching Malfoy, and thinking that the worst is yet to come and that it was just the Beginning.

**A/N: Boom! Done! There you go! I finished Book 4! Woooooooo! Well, you know the drill! Read, Review, tell me my mistakes! I hope you enjoyed this story! Stay tuned for Book 5! Woo! If you have questions, ask and I will try to answer without giving anything away, but knowing me, I will give things away, cause I can't just hold it in! Well, let's get ready for Joshua Black and the Prophecy of the Chosen One!**


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